Let the Flames Begin Rewritten
by Susan strong
Summary: The rewritten—altered—version of the first copy of this story! Zelda Benningfield, having left New Mexico after everything that happened, is trying to live as normally as possible in Philadelphia. It doesn't take long for her to realize that no matter where she goes, the crazier side of life will surely follow.
1. Chapter 1

**1**

* * *

 _I'll stop the whole world, I'll stop the whole world,_

 _from turning into a monster eating us alive,_

 _Don't you ever wonder how we survive?_

 _Well now that you're gone, the world is ours..._

 **~Monster; by Paramore**

* * *

One year. No. . . .it's been a little _over_ one year. That's how long it's been since I've seen Thor, since I've seen Darcy and Jane, and since I've seen Selvig. I—thankfully—managed to land a job in Philadelphia, not too long after what happened in New Mexico. Leaving Darcy and Jane had been somewhat tearful, with promises to keep in touch, though they were quick to mention the possibility of leaving New Mexico, too. As for Selvig, he managed to land a spot at S.H.I.E.L.D, helping them with a very specific and very _classified_ operation. In other words, I couldn't say goodbye. But I knew he'd be proud to know that I found a real job and managed to find a decent apartment in Philadelphia!

The one thing that bothered me the most about Selvig working for S.H.I.E.L.D was that he was _working_ for _S.H.I.E.L.D_! I didn't know a lot about them, only the vague information Fury told me. I was informed about the Avengers Initiative, with only small and very vague information on how it's connected to S.H.I.E.L.D. They were very secretive, I figured out that much.

Fury had told me that when my abilities were needed, I'd be contacted by one of S.H.I.E.L.D's agents and brought to their immediate location.

I wasn't sure how I was supposed to feel about that, so I just nodded.

But, who was I to have a say in what Selvig could do? That secretive group of people had their reasons for needing him, and if working for them somehow benefited him in some way, then I was happy.

* * *

The one thing I found increasingly difficult to handle was the weight of knowing that Thor was still out there, wherever that Asgard place is, probably resuming the life he left behind. It frustrated me, knowing that I would get so bothered over Thor's absence. I kept reminding myself that I was above the petty, clichéd woman waiting desperately for the one she deeply cared for to return.

But then my mind would remind me that Thor _promised_ to return.

Then I'd get angry at myself and this whole cycle would start over again.

Despite the fact that Thor had only lived on Earth for no more than a month before leaving, he had impacted my life in a way I wasn't sure I could comprehend. There was some kind of connection between us, I just wasn't positive if it had been just me assuming it was romantic or if he thought the same way.

So to distract myself from the nagging my mind would give me over Thor's absence, I would spend that time practicing my powers. I needed to gain more control, and since I was also on S.H.I.E.L.D's radar—at least until they needed me—I needed all the time to prepare myself for whatever was bound to happen.

My telepathy was already good—I could easily enter the minds of people without much trouble, even going as far as entering the minds of multiple people at once.

My telekinesis, however, is still a different story. I've never had good control over my telekinesis, and after the death of my brother, Damien, it felt like it got worse. I lost control after finding out my brother died overseas in the Military. I nearly leveled a city in Florida. I had been told my telekinesis had been strong enough to level a city, and despite my best efforts to control it, I pretty much proved that I _could_ do just that. I had to keep up strong mental barriers to ensure that I only let out limited amounts of telekinetic energy at a time, lowering those barriers let out stronger waves of energy, and the stronger it got, the harder it became for me to control it. Even though I had spent a little over a year trying to gain _some_ control over that aspect of my powers, I still had trouble controlling it.

Practicing my powers had been an easy outlet for distracting myself from Thor and also letting out built-up frustration.

Ever since what happened in New Mexico, I felt a sense of dread. Humans weren't the only beings in the Universe. There were other, stronger beings out there that had some form of travel to Earth. I wanted to make sure that I was at least somewhat prepared for any other kind of alien attack that might happen. It felt like nothing made sense anymore.

And I _hated_ when things didn't make sense.

* * *

"You doing OK, Zel?" I briefly looked up and saw Riley sitting beside me in the break room. Riley was decent enough, she was somewhere in her mid- to late thirties, and friendly enough to talk to.

"I'm fine," I said, forcing a smile her way.

"You've just been acting strange lately." Riley's brown eyes sparkled with concern. "I just wanted to make sure. . . ."

"Really, Riley, I'm fine."

Before another word could come out of her mouth, Thalia, my boss, stormed in. If there was any person I could hate the most in my life, it would be Thalia. She had to be in her late forties or early fifties with the beady eyes of a rodent and a mouth so thin you'd have to look closely just to find her lips. Thalia's entire attitude was that of someone who hated her job but knew she had no other options in the job field.

"Benningfield, in my office _now_ ," she snapped.

Riley shot a worried look my way.

I tried for my best reassuring smile, but I knew that wouldn't ease up Riley.

Following Thalia into her office, I saw two sharply dressed men standing on either side of a smartly dressed woman. Thalia's beady eyes looked between the trio and myself, a slight scowl on her face.

"Ms. Benningfield," the woman began, "I'm Agent Hill. I need you to come with us."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **To begin, I am so, so, _so_ sorry for taking this story down! There had been some complications on my part in regards to this story so I had to take it down. Hopefully you guys are still interested in it! I'm kind of rewriting the whole story because I felt like the first time around, I rushed it and it just didn't really feel right. If any of you are still interested in this story, let me know what you think and know that I'm really sorry for taking this story down.**

 **The 'Avengers' will never be mine. I'll always own my OC's and my fillers.**

 **I was thinking that once that X-Men Apocalypse movie comes out, I might try a crossover of Zelda and the Avengers with the X-Men. It's still an idea, so I don't know if I really want to do it or not. Let me know what you guys think!**

 **Leave a helpful and kind review, please!**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

* * *

 _Stop stalling, making a name for yourself,_

 _Boy, you better put that pen to paper, charm your way out,_

 _If you talk you better walk you better back your shit up,_

 _with more than good hooks while you're all under the gun,_

 _Start talking 'a sensationalist',_

 _Oh he's slightly clever to just a certain extent..._

 **~London Beckoned Songs About Money Written by Machines; by Panic! at the Disco**

* * *

I could hear the murmurs of the people I work with while I followed Agent Hill out of my work space. It probably seemed a little strange, being led out by mysterious people, but I had a feeling it was connected with S.H.I.E.L.D, so I knew better than to question it or argue.

Agent Hill hadn't given much information on what was happening, and by the time we reached their car—some big, black SUV—I was already feeling a little anxious.

"Is this for that Initiative thing?" I asked, once I was seated. "Did something happen?"

"At the moment, we're facing a threat that's beyond our control," Agent Hill instructed. My brows furrowed. When she handed me some files, she pointed to the one at the top. Opening it, I saw a picture of a bright blue cube. "That's the Tesseract. It's been in S.H.I.E.L.D's custody until now. Recently, the Tesseract opened a Space bridge that led Loki into our world, giving him the opportunity to steal the Tesseract and manipulate the greatest minds S.H.I.E.L.D had to offer."

I felt a rush of something come over me at the mention of Loki's name. I never met him, but there was something about him that made me feel uncomfortable.

"Loki's Thor's brother, yeah?" I kept studying the picture of the Tesseract. "What would he need the Tesseract for?" Briefly looking at the other files, I frowned. There was a file on Tony Stark, Captain America, and a few others I didn't know. "Who are some of these people?" I asked.

"They're going to help you retrieve the Tesseract," Hill deadpanned. "Read up on them."

* * *

Natasha Romanoff—S.H.I.E.L.D's best assassin.

Clint Barton—the best archer S.H.I.E.L.D had to offer, never missing a single shot.

Dr. Bruce Banner—exposed to extremely lethal amounts of gamma radiation in a freak accident, transforms into something not friendly when he's angry.

Tony Stark—billionaire inventor, the Iron Man, kidnapped by terrorists and that's how the Iron Man legacy began.

Captain Steve Rogers—a lab experiment, became Captain America in WWII, a hero and idol, crashed a WWII plane into some ice before being defrosted seventy-something years later with a legacy that only grew in his absence.

Thor—Norse God of Thunder, classified as a _'demigod'_ by S.H.I.E.L.D's standards, the only known wielder of Mjölnir.

That's what I got from those files Hill gave me.

"S.H.I.E.L.D expects us all to get the Tesseract back?" I asked, handing the files back.

"You're expected to get the job done," Hill said. "S.H.I.E.L.D will provide the necessary materials."

* * *

The drive lasted for at least an hour, maybe two. None of us said much. By the time the SUV came to a stop, we were long out of Philadelphia. When Hill and those men piled out of the SUV, I followed suit, slightly confused.

After about half an hour, a black jet landed in front of us.

* * *

The jet landed after what felt like a lifetime of flying. The entire time I was feeling _extremely_ overwhelmed. Flying was something I couldn't handle, I always felt sick. But even after we landed, I still felt that gross, sick feeling. Exiting the jet, I internally groaned when we were on some big boat-like ship. There were Military jets parked on various places, soldiers marching, all kinds of noises and sights I couldn't comprehend.

 _What is this place?_ I thought anxiously.

"Ms. Benningfield." I turned and saw a woman with red hair styled in a bob approaching me. There was a calculating look in her eyes that she tried disguising under a friendly demeanor.

 _That's Romanoff._ I tried for a smile in return. "Hi," I said, wrapping my arms around myself.

"It's a good thing you showed up when you did," Natasha said. "We were just about to take off." I must've looked surprised. Romanoff's smile became more of a knowing smirk. "You're the third one to show up already," she went on.

"Third?"

"Dr. Banner and Captain Rogers are here."

"Oh. . . ."

* * *

Romanoff led me inside the ship. I felt extremely anxious and out of place. There were more soldiers on the inside and a lot of people sitting behind computers, people shouting orders, people running with paperwork, and soldiers standing guard.

"Ms. Benningfield, meet Captain Rogers." I was slightly taken aback by how young Rogers' physical appearance was. It didn't seem real in the photos from his file, but seeing him in person was something else. The fact that someone could survive a crash in some ice for seventy years didn't seem real.

A boyish smile came across Rogers' face as he stuck his hand out. I smiled in return and shook his hand.

"Pleasure to meet you, ma'am," he said, sounding very formal.

"No need to call me that," I chuckled. "Zelda's fine."

"If you wouldn't mind calling me Steve."

"This must feel a little weird for you," I said, crossing my arms over my chest.

Steve shrugged. "It's sort of familiar."

"I suppose familiarity makes it better," I murmured.

"In your file, it says you have powers," Steve said after a moment's silence.

"You got files too?"

There was something in Steve's blue eyes that made me sigh. I had a feeling he was still adapting to the new world, and I guess answering his question would help him out some.

"I do." I sighed. "If you read my file—whatever S.H.I.E.L.D has written down on me—then you know I try to use my powers as little as possible. Unless I really have to use them."

When a look came across Steve's face, I gave another sigh and connected my mind with his. "You're scared," I said. "You're still unsure on how you feel about this new world. You feel alone and out-of-place. Old fashioned. You miss your friends and the old life you had before, but you know better than to focus on the past. You went under with the world at war, you woke up with everyone saying we won. But we still lost." I cut off the connection, I could see another look sweep across Steve's face—it wasn't quite fear, more of astonishment, discomfort maybe, that I had managed to get into his head. "That's what you said, right? What you're thinking?"

"Gentlemen, Ms. Benningfield." Fury approached where Steve and I were standing, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw another man with curly dark hair glancing around nervously, wringing his hands in front of him.

With the look on Fury's face, though, I had a feeling there was no turning back at that point.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I hope you guys liked this chapter! This story is the sequel to my Thor fic 'Counting Stars', for anyone who's just reading this one. The song lyrics at the beginning of this chapter belong to Panic! at the Disco. For my future chapters, I will either have song lyrics or TV/movie quotes at the very beginning. If you have any suggestions on song lyrics or TV/movie quotes, leave a review or PM me.**

 **Everything in the 'Avengers' world belongs to Marvel/Stan Lee. I own my fillers and characters.**

 **Leave a helpful and kind review, please!**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

* * *

 _Pressure pushing down on me,_

 _Pressing down on you, no man ask for,_

 _Under pressure that burns a building down,_

 _Splits a family in two,_

 _Puts people on streets,_

 _It's the terror of knowing what this world is about,_

 _Watching some good friends screaming, 'Let me out'..._

 **~Under Pressure; by Queen + David Bowie**

* * *

Fury and Banner immediately hit it off on where S.H.I.E.L.D was on finding the Tesseract. Banner made a few demands, then Natasha led him—on Fury's command—to where he'll be conducting his research on the Tesseract's location. In the meantime, everyone else was working on finding Loki.

After a couple minutes went by, Steve went over and started to look around. When Coulson went and started talking to him, that cancelled out the only other person I could talk to. So I opted for sitting myself down at the table at the other end of the room. Fury hadn't really told Steve or I if there was anything for us to do, so we just waited until there was.

"We got a hit!" one of the agents called. "Sixty-seven percent. Cross-match—seventy-nine percent."

I stood up from where I was sitting, a bubble of anxiety forming in my stomach.

"Location?" Coulson ordered.

"Stuttgart, Germany. He's not exactly hiding."

"Loki?" I asked.

Fury turned and looked between Steve and I, an indescribable look on his face. "Captain, Benningfield, you're up," he ordered.

Steve and I shared a look before nodding.

* * *

One of Fury's agents led me to where I'd change out of my _'civilian clothes'_ and into more. . . . _combat ready_ attire. Which, apparently, had a fair amount of leather mixed in with some bulletproof material. So, as I changed into the outfit S.H.I.E.L.D provided for me, I had to stop myself from cringing. The outfit made me look more like a pirate, in my opinion.

The pants were a comforting fit—not too tight, not too lose, stopping just a couple inches above my ankles with a bit of a flare going on. There were some buckles that were thrown on here and there, probably to make it more dramatic.

The _shirt_ on the other hand, looked more like a _corset_ than a shirt. It zipped up rather than strapped up, and was _very_ fitting.

Once I was completely finished changing, Natasha came in and led me out. There was a hint of something in her eyes when she saw me in my outfit, and that look made my stomach churn. I wasn't sure who was responsible for choosing an outfit like _that_ , but I chose to keep my mouth shut.

"So. . . .Loki's finally made an appearance?" I asked.

"You and Captain Rogers will detain him and, hopefully, he'll tell us of the Tesseract's location."

 _Seems simple enough,_ I thought.

* * *

Natasha and another of S.H.I.E.L.D's agents had shown Steve and I to one of their miniature jets, where they'd be flying us to Germany to get Loki. We didn't really know what to expect, and that made us all tense.

I had noticed how uncomfortable Steve looked in his Captain America uniform, as if he were trying to re-familiarize himself in it. But I also noticed the blush on his face when he saw me in my outfit. I guess he still wasn't used to how revealing clothes got these days.

"You doing OK?" Steve called.

I looked over at him. My stomach had been doing flips since we took off. "I'm fine," I answered. "Just not a big fan of flying."

A sympathetic look came over his face, along with a small smile. "Neither am I."

I gave a humorless chuckle. "It, uh, must be weird going back to Germany," I stuttered, trying to find something else to talk about.

A slight shrug. "If the world's really changed at all, I don't think it'll be all that bad."

 _That's one way of looking at it._ I nodded.

"All right guys, we're just over the location," Natasha called out. Steve goes over and opens the back, holding his shield tightly.

"Steve, what the Hell are you doing?" I cried.

"Taking the quick way," he said simply.

"You're not taking a parachute?" I exclaimed.

Preparing himself, Steve gave a single shake of his head before jumping out of the opening.

* * *

After many attempts to calm myself down after Steve's little stunt, I gathered enough courage—if that's what you'd call it—to get a parachute, open the back and jump out, as well.

By the time I landed, however, I saw a large crowd of people kneeling on the ground. Steve was standing in the near center looking out of breath.

Near the front of the crowd, a man dressed in green, golden, and black stood. His hair was slicked back; a golden helmet with two horns protruding from the front rested on his head and he held a golden Scepter in one hand.

I carefully maneuvered my way through the kneeling people until I was standing next to Steve.

"The soldier, a man out of time," he spat, a British accent lacing his words. When his gaze sifted to me, his lip curled up in disgust. "My idiot brother's pathetic Mortal."

I felt a sting in my chest at that.

"I'm not the one who's out of time," Steve said.

 _'Loki, drop the weapon and stand down,'_ Natasha called.

Another look swept across Loki's face before he aimed the Scepter at the jet and a blue beam of energy shot out. Steve threw his shield at Loki and the two started fighting. When Loki managed to knock Steve down, I used that opportunity to throw out as much telekinetic energy as I'd allow to make him immobile. I could see him trying to struggle against it, which made me try harder to keep him trapped. Right at his Scepter started to glow again, AC/DC started blasting from the jet. My concentration faltered for a minute and that allowed Loki to break free. Steve threw his shied at Loki and he fell to the ground.

Tony Stark, in his Iron Man suit, landed beside us and started aiming all the guns and missiles his suit had to offer at Loki.

"Your move, reindeer games," Stark taunted.

Loki's helmet and Scepter dematerialized, his hands raised in surrender.

Stark put away the guns and missiles.

"Mr. Stark," Steve said after he caught his breath.

"Captain."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I hope you guys like this chapter! Hopefully it wasn't too similar to the movie! Let me know what you guys think. If you guys have any suggestions on future updates, leave a review.**

 **I own nothing in the 'Marvel' universe. Everything belongs to Stan Lee, the producers of the movie, etc. I only own my characters and fillers.**

 **As for the whole X Men Apocalypse/Avengers crossover [I think I mentioned it last chapter], I am thinking about doing it, I just need to know how I'm going to do it! If you guys have any ideas, let me know.**

 **Zelda's _'superhero outfit'_ [these clothes are from Pinterest]: _www—dot—pinterest—dot_ _—com/pin/ASWbX3u5i4cgnBMv2VMzelMAP4j7cG5HYW3HIVh60EVD_q5LO0Cz0pM/_ for the pants.**

 _ **www-dot-pinterest-dot-com/pin/5658351406578919663/**_ **for her shirt.**

 **Leave a kind and helpful review, please!**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

* * *

 _Run fast for your mother, run fast for your father,_

 _Run for your children, for your sisters and brothers,_

 _Leave all your love and your longing behind,_

 _You can't carry it with you if you want to survive,_

 _The dog days are over,_

 _The dog days are done,_

 _Can't you hear the horses?_

 _'Cause here they come..._

 **~Dog Days Are Over; by Florence + the Machines**

* * *

The ride back on the jet was awkward. Despite the fact that Tony Stark could fly in his Iron Man suit, he decided to tag along with us. Loki was kept handcuffed, sitting stiffly and nervously. His already pale skin looked even paler.

Steve, Tony, and I tried to put as much distance between ourselves and Loki as possible, but it was hard because of the amount of space we had in the jet.

For the most part, the ride was quiet. It was mostly filled with a heated glare or an anxious look Loki's way. He wasn't uttering a single word, just sitting there with his cuffed hands on his lap. We weren't really sure what to expect from him.

"I don't like it," Steve muttered.

"What? Rock of Ages giving up too easily?" Tony shot a dry look Steve's way.

"I don't remember it ever being that easy," Steve grumbled. "This guy packs a wallop."

While Tony and Steve continued their little spat, I tried to get a look into Loki's mind. If he wasn't going say anything, I might as well see what was stirring in his mind. The only problem was that when I entered his mind, I got a whole jumble of images and the emotions attached. Disfigured humanoid things; some really big and powerful guy sitting on a throne; a bright blue light; and a lot of fear thrown in at a lot of places. When I got out of his head, my throat felt like it was closing up and my heart felt like it had dropped right into the pit of my stomach.

When the sound of thunder started rumbling around us, shaking the jet slightly, there was a split second where everyone stopped whatever they were doing to listen to the thunder.

It didn't really sound the way thunder would, either—it wouldn't stop after a moment, it kept going and going until lightning started mingling with it.

For a moment—a single moment, I swear to God—Loki's gaze went to me for a millisecond before shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"What's the matter?" Steve taunted. "Scared of a little lightning?"

"I'm not overly-fond of what follows." Loki's voice sounded almost hoarse, his skin becoming so pale he almost looked sick. I could see the looks of confusion on Steve's and Tony's faces.

"You mean. . . ." I started. Whatever I was going to say next was interrupted when something heavy landed on the top of the jet.

The back of the jet was forced open and Thor stormed in. The thunder bellowed into the jet and the lightning lit up everything every couple seconds. Tony tried going after him, but Thor hit him in the chest with Mjölnir.

Grabbing Loki by the collar, Thor yanked his brother up before briefly meeting all of our gazes, his gaze hesitating when he saw me. After a moment, he jumped out of the jet with Loki.

"Another Asgardian?" Natasha cried.

"This guy's a friendly?" Steve exclaimed.

"He's a friendly!" I cried.

"Doesn't matter," Tony barked, standing at the jet's entrance. "If this guy frees Loki or kills him, the Tesseract's lost."

"Stark, we need a plan of attack!" Steve shouted.

"I _have_ a plan. Attack."

Stark then proceeded to jump out of the jet.

* * *

Not even a minute after Stark jumped out of the jet, Steve followed suit. Natasha warned him that Thor and Loki were pretty much gods, but Steve only said, _'There's only one God, ma'am. And I'm sure he doesn't dress like that'_. So, after everyone decided to push their testosterone aside for a moment, they returned to the jet without another word.

Loki still remained handcuffed, but there was a mischievousness in his eyes that hadn't been there before.

Thor looked frustrated and a little beaten up.

Tony's Iron Man suit was dented and he looked peeved.

Steve looked frustrated.

I tried standing a little further away from them.

* * *

By the time we made it to the Helicarrier, Loki was led to his cell by Fury's soldiers while he took the rest of us—minus Tony, who'd gone off somewhere—to an area where we'd get to hear Loki getting interrogated.

 _'It's an impressive cage,'_ Loki mocked. _'Not built, I think, for me.'_

 _'Built for something a lot stronger than you.'_

 _'Oh, I've heard,'_ Loki drawled. _'The mindless beast, makes play he's still a man. How desperate are you, that you call upon such lost creatures to defend you?'_

 _'How desperate am I? You threaten my world with war. You steal a force you can't hope to control. You talk about peace, but you kill 'cause it's fun. You have made me very desperate. You might not be glad that you did.'_

 _'It burns to have come so close. To have the Tesseract, to have power, **unlimited** power. And for what? A warm light for all Mankind to share? Then to be reminded what **true** **power** is.'_

 _'Well, let me know if real power wants a magazine or something.'_

When the interrogation ended, there was a moment of silence. We weren't really sure what to make of what Loki said. It was unsettling.

"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Banner murmured.

"Loki's gonna drag this out," Steve informed. "So. Thor, what's his play?"

"He has an Army called the Chitauri," Thor sighed. "They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract."

"An Army?" Steve exclaimed in almost disbelief. "From Outer Space?"

"That's not all," I blurted. They all looked at me. "There was something in Loki's mind that really stood out."

"You looked into his mind?" Thor exclaimed.

"It seemed like a good idea." I swallowed thickly. "I think I might've seen those Chitauri things. But there was someone else—some man on a big throne and Loki is scared shitless of him."

I could see the look of frustration sweep across Thor's face while everyone else tried finding some kind of logical solution for what was happening.

"But what we know now is that he's building another portal," Banner said slowly. "That's what he needs Erik Selvig for."

"Selvig?" Thor exclaimed.

"He's an astrophysicist," Banner said.

"He's our friend," I said.

"Loki has him under some kind of spell," Natasha deadpanned. "Along with one of ours."

"I wanna know why Loki let us take him," Steve said. "He's not leading an Army from here."

"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki," Banner said. "That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you can smell crazy on him."

"I care how you speak," Thor scolded. "Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard. And he's my brother."

"He killed eighty people in two days," Natasha said dryly.

"He's adopted?"

"Well, Loki's got _something_ up his sleeve," I sighed. "He wouldn't let us capture him so easily if he didn't."

"The way the portal's being rebuilt," Banner said, "he's using iridium. Why does he need iridium?"

"It's a stabilizing agent," Tony announced, walking in with Coulson. "Means the portal won't collapse in on itself like it did at S.H.I.E.L.D." Walking past Thor, Tony dismissively patted his arm. "No hard feelings, point break, you've got a mean swing," he muttered. "Also, it means the portal can be open as wide, and stay open as long, as Loki wants." Tony went and stood in Fury's spot, looking around for a moment, as if he were finding a comfortable position. We all looked at him in irritation—it didn't take a genius to know he wasn't taking any of what was happening seriously. "That man is playing _Galaga_!" Tony announced. "Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did." Turning around some more, Tony looked over at us with slight irritation. "How does Fury do this?"

"He turns," Hill deadpanned.

"That sounds exhausting," Tony scoffed. Touching some of the screens on Fury's high-tech computers, a look swept across Tony's face. "The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. Only major component he needs is a power source. A high energy density, something to kickstart the Cube."

"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Hill muttered.

"Last night." Tony looked at all of us smugly. "The packet. Selvig's notes. The Extraction Theory papers! Am I the only one who did the reading?"

"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve interrupted.

"He's got to heat the Cube to a hundred-and-twenty-million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Banner said.

"Unless, Selvig has figured out a way to stabilize the quantum tunneling effect," Stark added.

"Well, if he could do that, he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet."

"Finally, someone who speaks English." Stark walked over to Banner and shook his hand.

"Is that what just happened?" Steve muttered.

I chuckled, feeling just as confused as him.

"It's good to finally meet you, Dr. Banner," Tony said, his voice full of respect. "Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster."

Banner's face twisted a little, a look of confliction on his face. "Thanks," he murmured.

"Dr. Banner is only helping you track the Cube," Fury announced as he entered the room. "I was hoping you might join him."

"Let's start with that stick of his," Steve suggested. "It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a H.Y.D.R.A weapon."

"He's right," I added. "It's got a lot of powerful energy."

"I don't know about that," Fury said slowly. "But it is powered by the Cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his personal flying monkeys."

"Monkeys?" Thor said confusedly. "I do not understand. . . ."

"I do!" Steve announces. "I understood that reference."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry for the delay, but here's the chapter! Hopefully you guys enjoy it. Thanks to everyone who's reviewed this story, it means a lot! Let me know if there's anything I can do to improve my story.**

 **As for Zelda, not only can she read minds and move things around with her mind, but she can also—very, very minutely—sense the energy of certain things, like the power in Loki's Scepter.**

 **As for Zelda's appearance, she has dark brown hair, medium build, she's in pretty decent shape, brown eyes, and relatively pale skin.**

 **I own nothing in the 'Marvel' universe, that belongs to all the people who own the comics and movies. I'll always own my characters and my fillers.**

 **Leave a kind and helpful review, please.**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	5. Chapter 5

**5**

* * *

 _Well I've got thick skin and an elastic heart,_

 _But your blade—it might be too sharp,_

 _I'm like a rubber band until you pull too hard,_

 _Yeah, I may snap and I move fast,_

 _But you won't see me fall apart,_

 _'Cause I've got an elastic heart..._

 **~Elastic Heart; by Sia**

* * *

For the most part, everyone had gone off in different directions. Since the only people who were _really_ doing something were Stark and Banner, the rest of us were left to kind of just wander around and hope something came up. There hadn't been any signs on Loki's henchmen or where their location would be to rebuild the portal, and it made me feel a little anxious that somewhere in the world, a bunch of brainwashed people were unknowingly helping an evil alien bring an alien Army to Earth.

"Zelda."

I jumped at the sound of the voice. I hadn't realized anyone was following me. Turning, I felt like a weight had dropped in my stomach. Thor stood just a couple feet behind me, looking almost anxious.

"Was there something you needed?" I asked. Despite the eagerness I felt when he returned, there was still an overwhelmingly large part of me that remained angry at him for taking a _year_ to come back—even if it _was_ to stop Loki.

"I wished to see you," he said, taking a cautious step forward.

"You had a year to do that."

"I couldn't." Thor shook his head, an almost regretful look in his eyes. "Asgard needed all the help it could get. Loki caused just as much damage there as he did here."

I crossed my arms over my chest. " _Now_ he's planning to take over _my_ world," I said dryly.

"Not unless we stop him."

"Why are you here, Thor?"

"For you." Thor came over and put his hands on my shoulders. "If you don't believe what I'm telling you, look inside my head. You know I would have come back for you but my people needed me."

I could see the borderline desperate look in his blue eyes. He wanted me to believe him. He offered for me to look in his head. While I was tempted to, I knew better than to do that. Going inside someone's head always felt intrusive, and I tried to avoid doing so if I could help it.

"Once this is all over, you're going to leave again, aren't you?"

"I must see that Loki receives justice for his actions," Thor sighed. "But that's only if I cannot get through to him."

Before I could say anything else, I felt a tingling in the back of my head. It was like an itch that I couldn't quite reach. Turning, I looked at the hall in front of me. There were various doors agents and scientists were coming in and out of. But for some of them, I could feel the tiniest traces of something on them. It was some kind of energy—different than the Scepter's—that was doing something to me, or maybe my powers.

"Zelda?" Thor asked, his voice sounding concerned.

"You don't feel that?" I asked.

"Feel what?"

I slowly walked down the hall, Thor following me. I could _feel_ his confusion and concern radiating off him. The further I went down the hall, the more intense the tingling feeling became. The tingling sensation had transformed into a slight buzz as I stopped in front of a door. My brows furrowed. Placing my hand over the keypad, it took me a moment to use my powers to break the code. It took way too much concentration out of me. When the door opened, the force of whatever was inside hit me like a train. My head felt like it had been stuffed with cotton balls; I couldn't focus on anything. I stumbled back.

I could barely feel Thor grab me, steadying me against him.

I curled against him, trying to get that cottony feeling out of my head. My head felt like it was spinning and my stomach started feeling queasy.

Then it stopped.

The cottony feeling slowly went away but the queasiness and dizziness remained.

My heart was hammering painfully against my ribs and my breathing sounded louder than normal.

"Ms. Benningfield," a voice called. Looking over, I saw Natasha standing there, her eyes hardened. "You need to come with me." Her voice sounded further away. Looking behind her, I could see the door had been closed.

"What the Hell was that?" I gasped.

"It's a back-up," Natasha said.

"It was suppressing my powers," I rasped. "I thought there was only something for Banner. . . ."

"Ms. Benningfield, now is not the time."

"No," Thor growled, tightening his grip on me. "Why would you build a room like that?"

Natasha's lips pursed. "She has too much power and minimal control," she growled. "She nearly leveled an entire city. If something arose, we would need to control it."

I glared at her. "Well screw you if you think I'm going in there."

"Zelda, this is important," Natasha snapped. "Loki's planning on using you and Dr. Banner."

"What?" Thor asked.

"You need to come with me."

* * *

Natasha had led us to the lab where Tony and Banner were studying the Scepter. Fury was already in there, confronting the two men on whatever they'd been doing.

"You're supposed to be locating the Tesseract," Fury exclaimed.

"The model's locked and we're sweeping for a signature now," Banner said. "When we hit, we'll get a location within a half mile."

"And you'll get your Cube back," Tony sighed, rolling his eyes sarcastically. "No muss, no fuss. What is Phase Two?" Tony looked at one of those computers as something popped up.

Steve gently moved his way past where Natasha had Thor and I standing, a large gun in his hand. "Phase Two is S.H.I.E.L.D uses the Cube to make weapons," he announced sharply. "Sorry, the computer was moving a little slow for me."

"You're using the Cube to make weapons?" I asked, taking a step forward. My earlier dizziness was slowly dissipating, but I still had moments. "When were you going to tell us that?"

"Listen, we gathered everything related to the Tesseract," Fury tried brushing off. "That doesn't mean that we're. . . ."

"Nick, what were you lying?" Tony turned one of the screens around to show the Tesseract being used to power various weapons.

Sharp looks were thrown Fury's way.

"I was wrong, Director," Steve spat. "The world hasn't changed a bit."

"Did you know about this?" Bruce asked Natasha.

"I think we should consider removing you and Ms. Benningfield from this environment. . . ." Natasha started.

"I was in Calcutta, I was pretty well removed," Bruce said, trying to keep his voice even.

"Or what?" I seethed. "You're gonna lock us up?"

"Loki's manipulating you both," she said.

"And you've been doing what exactly?" Banner exclaimed.

"You didn't come here because I bat my eyelashes at you," she said smoothly.

"Yes, and I'm not leaving because suddenly you're getting twitchy," Bruce brushed off. "I'd like to know why S.H.I.E.L.D is using the Tesseract to build weapons of mass destruction."

"Because of him." Fury pointed at Thor.

"Me?" Thor asked confusedly.

"Last year, Earth had a visitor from another planet who had a grudge match that leveled a small town," Fury explained grudgingly. "We learned that not only are we not alone, but we're hopelessly— _hilariously_ —outgunned."

"My people want nothing but peace with your planet," Thor said.

"But you're not the only people out there, are you?" Fury exclaimed. " _And_ you're not the only threat. The world's filling up with people who can't be matched. They can't be controlled."

"Like you're controlling the Cube?" I exclaimed.

"Your work on the Tesseract is what drew Loki to it," Thor hissed. "And his allies. It's a signal to all the realms that the Earth is ready for a higher form of war."

"Higher form?" Steve exclaimed.

"He forced our hand," Fury justified, "we had to come up with. . . ."

"Nuclear deterrent," Tony interrupted. "Because that always calms everything right down."

"Remind me again how you got your fortune, Stark." Fury shot a heated glare Tony's way.

Soon everyone's voice mingled into one big argument. They were all borderline yelling at each other, pointing at each other, placing the blame on one another—I tried to not get too bothered by it, but there was something that wasn't right. I looked over at the Scepter, and it was glowing a brighter shade of blue. I could just barely feel its energy changing, altering to what was happening. There was something about how the Scepter that was just drawing something out of me. It was like it was trying to get inside my head, but instead, it was mixing with my powers.

Closing my eyes, I fought off the urge to let the Scepter's energy overwhelm me.

"You speak of peace, yet you court chaos," Thor exclaimed.

"It's his M.O, isn't it?" Bruce exclaimed. "I mean, what are we? A team? No, we're a chemical mixture that _makes_ chaos. We're a time bomb."

"You need to step away," Fury exclaimed.

"Or what?" I snapped. "He's not doing anything. You can't let the guy talk?"

"Benningfield. . . ." Fury tried.

"Why shouldn't they let out a little steam?" Tony said.

"You know damn well why," Steve snapped. "Back off."

When Tony and Steve started facing off, the Scepter's energy changed. It was almost like the Scepter was feeding off their anger and frustration. But, for some reason, all that energy was being pushed into me.

I started rubbing my temples, trying to ease off the discomfort I was feeling.

"The only thing you really fight for is yourself," Steve snapped. "You're not the guy to make the sacrifice play, to lay down on a wire and let the other guy crawl over you."

"I'd just cut the wire," Tony snapped back.

"You know, you may not be a threat," Steve exclaimed, "but you better stop pretending to be a hero."

"A hero?" Tony scoffed. "Like you? You're a lab rat, Rogers. Everything special about you came out of a bottle."

"Will you all just shut up," I barked. The computer screens cracked, some of the tables started rattling and a few of the equipment flew off the tables and crashed into the walls. "What the Hell is wrong with all of you? Is fighting really going to solve all of this?"

"Agent Romanoff, would you kindly escort Dr. Banner and Ms. Benningfield. . . ." Fury tried.

"Where?" Banner interrupted. "You rented my room."

"You know, why doesn't he bunk with me?" I said sarcastically. "He's a doctor, right? Maybe he can help me when that damned room makes me sick to my stomach."

"It was just a precaution. . . ."

"In case I lost control," I snapped, "which hasn't happened since my brother died." Some more of the equipment flew off the tables and smashed against the walls. "But you're really testing my patience, Fury, and that isn't always a good thing."

"You built my room in case you wanted to get rid of me, didn't you?" Banner said after a moment. "In case you needed to kill me. But you can't. I know. I tried." We all turned and looked at him. "I got low. I didn't see an end so I put a bullet in my mouth, and the Other Guy spit it out. So I moved on. I focused on helping other people. I was good, until you dragged me into this freak show and put everyone here at risk." Looking over at Romanoff, a dark look came across his face. "You wanna know my secret, Agent Romanoff? You wanna know how I stay calm?" he seethed.

"Dr. Banner," Steve said cautiously. "Put the Scepter down." A sound came from one of the computers, Bruce put the Scepter and stormed over to the computer. A look swept across Bruce's face.

"Oh my God," he said.

The Scepter's energy intensified and suddenly I felt a surge of energy escape me right as an explosion rocked the Helicarrier.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **I hope you guys like this update! I was halfway through finishing this chapter when the Walking Dead came on, so I got a bit distracted! Sorry about that... Anyway, let me know if there's anything you'd like to see change or happen in this story.**

 **I own nothing in the 'Marvel' universe. I'll always own my characters and my fillers.**

 **Leave a kind and helpful review, please!**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	6. Chapter 6

**6**

* * *

 _Whoa I never meant to brag,_

 _But I got him where I want him now,_

 _Whoa it was never my intention to brag,_

 _To steal it all away from you now,_

 _But God does it feel so good..._

 **~Misery Business; by Paramore**

* * *

I could barely feel the Helicarrier lurching after the explosion. My head was hurting—it was like all the energy that had been steadily building up inside of me was trying to get out. My mental barriers were fluctuating—one minute I could feel them holding the energy back, next it was like it was hardly even there. I let out a groan, trying my best to hold the energy back.

"Zelda!" someone cried. Looking up, I saw Steve standing just a few feet away, looking terrified.

The pain in my head intensified for a moment. I grabbed my head and fell forward. I faintly heard Steve grunt. Looking through my eyelashes, though my vision was getting blurry, I could see Steve had been thrown onto his back. A lot of the tables had been thrown out the broken windows of the Helicarrier—I could see a lot of things levitating in the air, swirling around violently.

"You need to go!" I gasped. "Steve, just go!"

"I'm not leaving you here!" he cried, standing up. I could see him struggling to move. "Whatever's going on, you can fight it, Zelda!"

The pain intensified and I saw Steve fly back again. A lot of the things that were levitating flew out.

I let out a cry. Another pain exploded in my head—and I could suddenly hear the voices of every person on the Helicarrier. Every single thought that was running through everyone's mind was swirling in my head.

Looking up for a moment, I saw Steve struggling to get to his feet.

"Go!" I screamed, he went back a couple inches. I could see the look of fear and concern on his face. I could hear his thoughts racing. "If you stay here I'll kill you! Get out!"

He managed to leave.

Once I knew he was far enough away, I did the one thing I was trying so hard to avoid.

I released everything.

* * *

 _Hey. Wake up._ My head was pounding and everything was black. _C'mon, get up! Get up._ It felt like there was something touching me. _Get_ _. Up! Come on!_ I felt my eyes open slowly, and the pounding in my head seemed to intensify. There was a moment where everything looked blurry, then after a couple blinks, everything started clearing up. I saw Steve and Tony standing near me, Steve looking visibly concerned while Tony tried his best to put up his doesn't-give-a-shit façade.

"Where am I?" I groaned, rubbing my forehead with the back of my hand.

"One of the barracks," Steve said. I struggled to sit up from the bed I was on. "You were found unconscious, just barely inside. . . ."

"After you blew a hole that nearly knocked us out of the sky," Tony interrupted.

As I sat up, I felt a roll of nausea rush through me. I fought back the urge to throw up. I almost forgot how much it effected me physically.

"Sorry," I said, my throat closing. Slowly getting off the bed, I stumbled a little. Going to the nearest trashcan, I threw up.

"What the Hell was that back there?" Steve exclaimed, trying his best to figure some way to make me comfortable.

Spitting out some bile, I let out a dry heave before carefully sitting on the ground. "While all of you were bitching about all that pointless bullshit," I said thickly, "the Scepter was doing something to me."

I could see the looks on their faces, making me roll my eyes lazily.

"Trust me, if I were brainwashed or whatever that stupid thing does, I would've tried something." I swallowed thickly. "I think I let it all out back there."

"So you're good?" Tony asked.

I nodded wordlessly.

"Will you be good enough to fight?" Steve asked.

"I will be." I brushed some of my sweat sodden hair out of my face. "I'll just walk it off. How does that sound?"

* * *

That's exactly what I did. Since I didn't have anything left to throw up, I settled for just washing my mouth out and brushing my teeth. My head was still tender from what happened, but I managed to rebuild the mental barriers, steadily adding more secure energy to keep anything from getting out.

Steve had filled me in on what was happening—Loki escaped; Thor and Banner were a no-show; Loki killed Coulson; communications were down; the Tesseract had been stolen again; but the good thing was we had our lost agent back.

Despite all the information, though, the one thing that stood out the most to me was that Coulson was dead. Even though I didn't know Coulson that well, after everything he'd done beforehand, there was a part of him that grew on me in a way I couldn't explain. Maybe it was the fact that he was so genuine in everything he did—his dedication and loyalty to what he did. I only met with Coulson a small handful of times since Thor had left after the New Mexico incident. Coulson seemed to have his heart set on what he believed in.

I felt an anger bubble inside of me.

Loki acted as if he had the _right_ to come onto Earth, kill anyone he felt defied him, and then take over a planet he couldn't hope to understand.

Maybe bringing together a band of misfits to fight Loki could work.

* * *

Tony had gone off to get his Iron Man suit. Steve told me of their plan to head to New York and handle Loki there, where the portal would be opened on Stark Tower. We'd get one of the jets and, despite it not being under Fury's permission, hopefully manage to stop Loki before anything gets too out-of-hand.

Steve led us to one of the barracks where Natasha was in.

"Time to go," he said.

"Go where?"

"I'll tell you on the way. Can you fly one of those jets?"

The bathroom door opened and a man walked out. "I can," he said warily.

There was a moment of silence. Natasha nodded.

"You gotta suit?" Steve asked. He nodded. "Then suit up."

* * *

After we got ourselves suited up and ready to go, we headed to the nearest jet that was opened.

"Hey, you guys aren't authorized to be in here," an agent said.

"Son, just don't," Steve said firmly.

Finally managing to have the agent leave, maybe with a little help from me, we were able to leave the Helicarrier with Tony at tow.

* * *

"How're you holding up?" Steve asked after a couple minutes.

Giving a humorless chuckle, I shrugged. "I'm OK," I said. I could tell he didn't believe me. I sighed. "When you've got enough power to cause that kind of damage, you don't get over it that quickly."

"But you're still going to fight," he said.

"I could tell Loki was behind it." I tried for a smile. "I hate the fact he figured out how to use my powers against me. There's a reason I use it as little as possible."

Steve frowned. "There was a part of you still holding back. Your file said you've got enough power to level an entire city. You could've blown us right out of the sky, but you didn't."

I nodded. "Maybe I was holding back. But that's not going to make me feel any better." I rubbed my forehead. The pounding in my head had dulled to a minor thumping sensation, like a weak headache. "The sooner we can get Loki back in custody and stop that portal from opening, the better."

* * *

The flying went on in silence, a rather anxious silence. Tony had gone on ahead to try and stop the portal from opening and maybe confront Loki. We were trying to figure out strategies to bring him down if possible. It was going to be harder trying to figure out how to keep Loki down without Thor and Bruce.

 _Two assassins, a super soldier, a billionaire inventor, and a Mutant—how can we possibly handle taking down Loki on our own?_

I gave a slight scowl.

 _There has to be something we can do. Loki's got some weird magic over us, but most of his power seems to be coming from that Scepter. If he's separated from the Scepter, maybe. . . ._ I looked up. I felt a brief surge in energy. Natasha had briefly announced our arrival in New York, and I knew that as long as Tony kept Loki occupied, the portal wouldn't open.

"What?" Steve asked, quickly noticing my expression.

"The portal's open."

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hopefully you guys like this chapter! Sorry if it felt a little weak, I was trying to figure out a way to at least make it interesting. Leave a review on what you think! After the New York Battle, I will add in some fillers, some of which will contain Zelda/Thor moments. Is that OK with you guys? I know I didn't have a lot in this story, so I thought I'd make up for it. I might even put in some backstory for Zelda, since I never really go too in depth with her character.**

 **Anywho, I own nothing in the 'Marvel' universe, only Zelda, any other characters I add to the story, and my fillers. Everything else belongs to Stan Lee, the producers/writers, etc.**

 **As for what we know about Zelda's character so far, and just to fill anyone in if they hadn't read my Thor story 'Counting Stars', Zelda had an older brother who died overseas in the Military [Zelda and her brother, Damien, were best friends and when she found out about his death, she nearly destroyed an entire Florida city, by accident, not on purpose]; because she's a Mutant, Zelda's parents disowned her; the topic of her brother is still a very sensitive topic for her; she considers Jane, Darcy, and Selvig to be more of a family than her own family; because of what she did in Florida after her brother's death, Zelda absolutely hates using her powers for anything; she refuses to use her telepathy because it feels like she's intruding.**

 **Sorry if that was too much, but that's what I had for her character from 'Counting Stars' until now.**

 **Leave a review on what you think should happen, what you think of this chapter, etc.**

 **Leave a kind and helpful review, please!**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	7. Chapter 7

**7**

* * *

 _I don't remember the moment I tried to forget,_

 _I lost myself is it better not said,_

 _Now I'm closer to the edge,_

 _It was a thousand to one and a million to two,_

 _Time to go down in flames and I'm taking you,_

 _Closer to the edge..._

 **~Closer to the Edge; by Thirty Seconds to Mars**

* * *

A spew of curses had been let out and the tensions were so thick it could've been cut with a knife. The jet continued to fly over New York, but it didn't help that there was a bright blue beam shooting up from one of the towers—Stark Tower from what Steve had told me. From what we could see, nothing drastic was happening yet, but that didn't mean the stakes were at an all-time high with the portal actually being _open_.

"You guys seeing this?" Clint exclaimed.

Coming from the portal were flying forms, bright blue energy coming from them. Smoke and flames started rising from some of the buildings, explosions and the brief sounds of an unnatural screeching mixed in.

"Do we at least know if Stark's OK?" I asked anxiously.

"He should be," Natasha said.

"Do we have any way to get in contact with him?"

"That should not be a problem," Natasha murmured. After a couple minutes, Natasha let out a slightly appreciative noise. "Stark, we're heading Northeast," she exclaimed.

 _"What did you do, stop for drive-thru?"_ he cried. _"Swing up park, I'm gonna lay 'em out for you."_

The further we came to Stark Tower, the closer we got to seeing what those things were. Weird greyish looking things covered in armor, blue beams shooting out of the ships they were on.

Natasha managed to shoot some of them from the sky, but once we got to Stark Tower, Loki and Thor were in the middle of a fight—when Natasha tried shooting at Loki, he turned and shot a beam from the Scepter, causing us to crash. It took us a moment to recover from it, and when we did, Steve quickly handed out earpieces, saying it'd be easy for us to keep in contact if we had to separate.

* * *

"Stark, are you seeing this?" Steve asked. We had left the jet and stood in the middle of an abandoned, slightly destroyed road. People were running and screaming, those aliens—Chitauri or whatever they were called—kept flying around and shooting.

 _"I'm seeing, still working on believing,"_ Stark said grimly. _"Where's Banner? Has he shown up yet?"_

"Banner?" Steve's brows furrowed in confusion.

 _"Just keep me posted,"_ Stark said before disconnecting.

"OK, we've got a plan for this," I said urgently.

"Try and keep the bastards occupied," Steve said. "We need to take them out of the sky and close that portal."

When the Chitauri noticed us, they started shooting at us, some of them jumping from their ships to attack us. Natasha got out her guns and started shooting them; Clint fired off his arrows; Steve threw his shield and attacked them head-on if he needed to; and I threw out shields to protect us from their blasts and forced out enough energy to throw them back.

I let out a surprised, pained shriek when one of the Chitauri shot at me, just barely nicking my side.

"You OK?" Steve asked.

I nodded. "Probably nothing," I exclaimed. When another of those Chitauri tried shooting at Steve, I threw out enough energy to send it flying off a nearby overpass.

Steve peered for a moment over the overpass and a look swept over him. "Those people need assistance down there," he exclaimed.

"We got this!" Natasha cried. "We're good! Go."

"We'll handle this," I exclaimed, throwing out more energy.

"You think you can hold them off?" he asked Clint.

"Captain," Clint responded, almost smugly, "it would be my genuine pleasure."

When Steve left, tensions rose a little more. The amount of Chitauri seemed to have doubled, and no matter how many we took down, twice the amount from before seemed to have dropped out of the sky.

Natasha kept firing her guns, Clint kept firing his arrows, and I was trying to use whatever I had around me—broken glass, lose pieces of concrete, broken-off car parts—but it didn't feel like it was making much of a difference.

I nearly hit Steve with a sharpened piece of metal that came from a car before quickly swerving it over his head and into a Chitauri. Steve was using his shield to knock some of them back.

"There's too many of them!" I cried. It was true—the number of Chitauri we were trying to fend off had become overwhelming. No matter how many we took down, there always seemed to be more.

"Just keep going," Steve exclaimed.

For a split second, lightning shot down from the sky and struck all the Chitauri, causing the rest of us to jump back. Thor landed, stumbling a little, in front of us, looking tired and bloodied.

I hurried over to him, trying to assess his injuries.

"What's the story upstairs?" Steve asked.

"The power surrounding the Cube is impenetrable," Thor muttered.

 _"Thor's right,"_ Stark exclaimed. _"We gotta deal with these guys."_

"Well that's fantastic," I grumbled sarcastically.

"How do we do this?" Natasha asked.

"As a team," Steve said.

Thor's shoulders stiffened for a moment. "I have unfinished business with Loki."

"Yeah?" Clint asked, fixing his bow. "Get in line."

"Save it," Steve snapped. "Loki's gonna keep this fight focused on us and that's what we need. Without him these things could run wild. We got Stark up top, he's gonna need us. . . ."

Whatever else Steve was going to say was cut off when Banner came strolling on in on some old looking motorbike.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry of this chapter was bad, but I have been hitting a bit of a writer's block so I am trying to do this the best I can. If you've got any suggestions or ideas for future updates, let me know and I will add them in.**

 **I own nothing in the 'Marvel' universe, all I own are my characters and my fillers.**

 **Really, if there's any way you guys could help me through this writer's block, I'd greatly appreciate it. Writer's block sucks! Leave a review or PM me on anything you think could help me through the rest of this story.**

 **Leave a kind and helpful review, please!**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	8. Chapter 8

**8**

* * *

 _Can we go back, this is the moment,_

 _Tonight is the night, we'll fight 'till it's over,_

 _So we put our hand up like the ceiling can't hold us,_

 _Like the ceiling can't hold us..._

 **~Can't Hold Us; by Macklemore**

* * *

"So, this all looks horrible." Banner threw his arms up sarcastically, taking in the scenery with an equally sarcastic smirk on his face.

"I've seen worse," Natasha said hesitantly.

"Sorry."

"No, we could use a little worse."

"Stark, we got him," Steve said.

 _'Banner?'_

"Just like you said."

 _'Then tell him to suit up. I'm bringing the party to you.'_

We all turned when we saw Tony flying over with some big Leviathan thing following behind him—it was crashing into buildings, nearly breaking them in half with the force of the impact. Not to mention it was just barely on Stark's heels, trying to get to him.

"I don't see how that's a party," Natasha stammered, sounding more confused than scared.

The moment Tony was just a couple feet away, he immediately started flying closer to the ground so the Leviathan would follow suit, and when it did, it was causing even more damage.

"Dr. Banner, now might be a really good time for you to get angry," Steve said quickly.

"That's my secret, Captain," Banner said, walking in the direction the Leviathan was coming in. "I'm always angry." His body started stretching and bulging, getting bigger and turning shades of green while it grew and expanded. Right as the Leviathan was just a couple inches from him, Banner had finished growing until he was giant and green, punching it in the snout while it made him skid back a couple feet from impact. If Tony hadn't reacted—shooting whatever it was into the Leviathan before it fell on us—it wouldn't have ended well, but in no time at all the Leviathan exploded. Thor covered me from the blast and any remnants that might've flown off; I threw out enough energy to shield the others.

With the Leviathan out of the way, we all gathered around into a circle, getting our weapons ready. The Chitauri gathered on buildings or flew overhead on their little ships, screaming at us.

"Guys," I said, looking at the portal. More of those Chitauri and Leviathans were coming out.

"Call it, Cap," Tony exclaimed.

"Alright, listen up," Steve exclaimed quickly, "until we can close that portal up there, we're gonna use containment. Barton, I want you on that building, eyes on everything. Call out patterns and strays. Stark, you've got the perimeter. Anything gets more than three blocks out, you turn it back or you turn it to ash."

Tony went behind Clint and gave him a lift to their destinations.

"Thor, you've gotta try and bottleneck that portal," Steve went on, pointing to Thor. "Slow them down. You've got the lighting, light the bastards up."

Looking over at me, I gave Thor a small, supportive smile and nodded. Whatever he got out of that look made him nod in return before flying off to a building closest to the portal.

"We're staying here on the ground," Steve told us, "keeping the fighting here. And Hulk." Steve looked over at the Hulk, a look of utmost seriousness on his face. "Smash."

With a smirk, the Hulk jumped off to do just that.

* * *

The amount of Chitauri attacking us was overwhelming to say the least. They were dropping from buildings, from the skies, from every possible angle—Natasha shot them, Steve threw his shield or fought them head-on, I used whatever I had around me to my advantage and tried making sure Steve and Natasha remained untouched by their weapons.

Right as I was about to take down a Chitauri Steve had missed, I was thrown onto my back with a burning sensation on my side. Quickly sitting up, I put a hand on my side and felt blood.

"You OK?" Steve called.

"Uhm, it's just a scratch," I exclaimed, throwing out enough energy that it took down a small handful of the Chitauri, falling with a sickening crack on the ground. "I can barely feel it." When more Chitauri started showing up, I swallowed thickly. "You guys might want to get down," I called. When Steve saw the look on my face, I think he knew what I was thinking of doing. Having Natasha kneel behind his shield a couple feet away, I lowered my barriers just enough to let out an overwhelmingly large amount of energy. All the Chitauri flew back, hitting whatever was around them with enough force that it let out the most sickening sound. Not only did the Chitauri fly back, but so did everything around me; the ground cracked at the force of the release.

 _'I got a major energy reading,'_ Stark exclaimed. _'What the Hell was that?'_

"That was me," I said, grimacing. My head exploded in pain, white spots danced in my vision for a split second. "Sorry."

 _'Don't apologize, half-pint,'_ he said. _'That's the kind of fighting we need. Whatever you did, keep doing it.'_

 _That's easy for you to say,_ I thought bitterly. _But if it means getting rid of these things quicker, then what the Hell._

Rubbing my forehead to ease a little bit of the pain, I saw Natasha and Steve rush over. "I'm OK," I said. "Just a little headache."

"You think you can keep that up?" Natasha asked.

I thought it over. "I mean, it usually takes a lot out me," I sighed. "It'll take a bit to reload. The more I do something like that, the more exhausted I become." When I saw Steve and Natasha look at each other, I sighed. "I'll do as much as I can, but I can't guarantee it'll be as powerful as before. How does that sound?"

"It'll have to do," Steve said.

More Chitauri started falling from the sky, jumping from buildings. We got ready for another onslaught.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry for the continuously short chapters, I'm trying to put in as much action and fillers as I can, so hopefully you guys like it. Just let me know what you guys think, it'll mean a lot.**

 **I own nothing in the 'Marvel' universe, only my characters and fillers.**

 **I'd like to thank the Guest, who left a couple helpful and kind reviews on the past couple chapters! I'll keep in mind some of the things you said and I appreciate the reviews you left. I'd also like to thank Stargazer1364, AomeAzakura, keira666, and Sabina Mohammad for all the reviews you left! Thank you so, so much.**

 **Leave a kind and helpful review, please!**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	9. Chapter 9

**9**

* * *

 _I don't tell you what to say,_

 _I don't tell you what to do,_

 _So just let me be myself,_

 _That's all I ask of you,_

 _I'm young and I love to be young,_

 _And I'm free and I love to be free,_

 _To live my life the way I want,_

 _To say and do whatever I please..._

 **~You Don't Own Me; by Grace + G-Eazy**

* * *

The fighting had ensued almost immediately. The Chitauri shot at us; the Leviathans used whatever they had—their weight, size, and whatever weapons were built into their armor—against us; not to mention that the Chitauri on those mini ships easily had an aerial advantage. But, like Steve said, we managed to keep them within the radius that Steve set up.

"Zelda, we could use an energy blast about now!" Natasha cried, using whatever weapons she could take from the Chitauri to shoot them down.

While Natasha used whatever guns or blasters she had available to shoot the Chitauri down, and Steve used his shield and whatever hand-to-hand combat he knew, I was trying to preserve as much energy as possible so I could at least have enough built up to have a major energy release.

Taking a quick look around, seeing the Chitauri easily moving around the wreckage with their guns aimed at us, I let out a silent curse.

"Get down!" I cried. The moment I saw Natasha and Steve get far enough away, and hidden behind Steve's shield, I lowered the mental barriers until they were pretty much not there and let out a significant amount of telekinetic energy. All the Chitauri within a couple feet of us—whether they were in the air or on the ground—flew back violently; all the rubble shot out in all different directions; the ground nearly gave out beneath me from the amount of energy that was released. I let out a gasp and nearly fell on my knees. My head exploded in pain and I felt the nausea rip through my body, as if someone had punched me in the stomach. Slowly kneeling down, I took calming breaths, trying to steady my pounding heart and my overly-sensitive stomach.

"You gonna be OK?" Steve put a comforting hand on my shoulder, looking worried.

"Just give me a second," I rasped, my voice suddenly sounding hoarse. "I put out too much energy." Slowly standing up, I swallowed the bile that was rising in my throat. "Give me a gun," I murmured, lazily putting out my hand. Natasha, who came up just a minute after Steve, gave me a look of almost disbelief. "I know how to shoot."

Taking out a gun, Natasha gave me a look before placing it gently in my hands.

I gave a single nod.

"Let us know if you can't keep going," Steve said, his voice sounding serious. Sounding almost like a parent.

"Rogers," I said with a weak chuckle, "I've had worse, trust me."

In no time at all, we were bombarded again with more aliens.

I started shooting at them, despite the slight tremor in my hand, while Natasha and Steve started their fighting against them. Despite how sick it made me feel, I still managed to put out as much energy as I could to protect Natasha and Steve from the beams from the Chitauri's weapons while I tried shooting them down. A quick call from Steve had me ducking while I briefly saw his shield fly out and connect with a few of the Chitauri before flying back to him.

"Ya know," I called back to him, "your shield kind of defies the laws of physics."

Steve let out a humorless chuckle. "I'll be sure to remember that!" he called.

After the last of the bullets had been used, I let out a slight groan and threw the gun on the ground.

 _Oh grow a pair!_ I thought sharply. _There is no room for complaining right now! There's an alien invasion going on—they don't care what happens to you!_

Concentrating as hard as I could, I let out a decent sized amount of energy and a lot of the Chitauri flew back with a sickening crack once they landed. I made sure to dodge, jump, and sprint out of the way of Natasha, Steve, and any beam of energy that was coming from the Chitauri's weapons. But it seemed like the amount of them we killed, even more than what we had taken down dropped from the skies or buildings, not hesitating to attack us by any means necessary.

After thinning out the Chitauri, we all let out heaving breaths as we took just a split second to gather ourselves.

"Captain," Natasha rasped, "none of this is gonna mean a damn thing if we don't close that portal."

"Our biggest guns couldn't touch it," Steve said, killing another Chitauri.

"Maybe it's not about guns." Natasha was glancing up at the aerial Chitauri, a look borderline anxiousness on her face.

"You need help getting up?" I offered. "I can slow one of 'em down for you."

Natasha shrugged, trying to look casual. "I _could_ use a lift," she muttered. Getting herself positioned near the edge of the overpass we were on, she gave me a look as if she were begging me to get it right the first try. Giving a slight nod, I got myself ready and once she started running, I slowed down one of the aerial Chitauri and gave Natasha the boost she needed to get on. With Natasha off trying to get some kind of advantage, Steve and I were left to handle the ones on the ground.

I had regained just enough energy to use whatever rubble or scrap of metal or glass there was to kill the Chitauri barreling at us.

Steve was kicking, punching, and throwing his shield.

Tony came flying down and helped take down a handful of Chitauri, using his suit's energy beams to ricochet off Steve's shield to take some out. In no time at all, Tony flew off to handle an issue somewhere else.

"Steve, down!" I ordered. He ducked in a split second, right as a Chitauri was going to attack him from behind. I flung a huge chunk of torn off metal into its head. "I got an idea! Why don't I use that physics defying shield of yours to make it more effective against them! It's a limited time offer."

He and I shared a look before we went on with it.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hopefully you guys like this chapter! Let me know if there's anything I can do to change anything in this chapter; I tried keeping it as action-packed as I could without it [hopefully] being too similar to moments in the movie. If you've got any ideas for future updates, let me know.**

 **I own nothing in the 'Marvel' universe; all I own are my characters and my fillers.**

 **Quick question—with the third 'Captain America' being out, and maybe after I write a few more Zelda/Thor stories, should I write one for 'Civil War'? I don't want it to seem like I'm overdoing it or anything. I know for sure that I'll be doing a story based around the second 'Thor', and maybe ( maybe) the second 'Avengers' after that. What do you guys think? 'Civil War' or no?**

 **Leave a kind and helpful review, please.**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	10. Chapter 10

**10**

* * *

 _And the man at the back said "Everyone attack"_  
 _And it turned into a ballroom blitz_  
 _And the girl in the corner said, "Boy I wanna warn you"_  
 _And it turned into a ballroom blitz..._

 **~Ballroom Blitz; by Sweet**

* * *

Needless to say, the little plan with Steve's shield worked wonders. The Chitauri who'd been hit were taken down effectively and it cut in half the amount we had before us. That didn't stop a whole crapload of others from dropping from the skies or from neighboring buildings, or even the ones on their mini ships shooting at us, but we managed.

I took a split second to just rest, to catch my breath and hope that I could gather enough energy to let it out against the Chitauri. Steve was still fighting relentlessly and the Chitauri were attacking at full force.

Grimacing for a moment, I felt a pain rip through my head for a minute too long before I felt a burning-stinging sensation hit my side. I nearly fell on my back from the force of the shot, Steve being kind enough to kill the Chitauri that hit me. I silently cursed under my breath. I was sporting one hit from their little blasters, but being hit _again_ , and more than likely near the same spot I'd been hit the first time, I was trying to fight against the overwhelming pain that was surging through my side and the commotion that was going on around me.

At that point, I rushed toward the Chitauri that had been taken out and took the blaster, quickly finding out how to fire it. It had more of a jolt to it than a gun did, and it almost jerked you backwards whenever it fired.

 _Nothing you're doing seems to be getting rid of bastards._ I felt myself jerk back when the blaster shot out again. _Ya know, you didn't spend all that time training with Damien for nothing. He was impressed with the amount of power you have; he encouraged you to keep practicing for your full potential._ I felt my side intensifying in pain the more I attacked. I let out another shot and pursed my lips.

After my parents had kicked me out of the house, Damien had been the only one in my family who kept in contact with me. No one in the Benningfield family had ever been a Mutant, and to suddenly have one without any kind of explanation. . . .it didn't really work well with my parents. So, in the end, they kicked me out. Damien helped me out financially, helped me find jobs and a place to live. He also helped me with my powers. We'd train early in the morning and late in the evening, then it changed when he went off into the Military and it only got worse after he died. But if there was one thing I knew, it was that Damien tried making me proud of my Mutation and he wanted me to embrace my differences.

And, while I stood in the middle of an alien invasion, watching terrified people trying to escape and hoping for the best outcome, I remembered everything I learned from when Damien was alive. And I knew that I'd have to do everything in my power to stop the Chitauri from causing anymore damage on Loki's behalf. So when the next round of Chitauri started dropping and running, I threw down the blaster and motioned Steve to get down. When he did, I lowered the mental barriers until I barely felt them there; all the debris around me started trembling and lunging into the air, I felt a significant change in the air.

I faintly heard the ground cracking and groaning. In that moment, I ignored all the pain that I felt over the use of my powers and from the times I'd been hit.

Without even thinking twice, I let it all out.

* * *

The fighting still went on. That damned portal was just pouring with Leviathans and Chitauri, and no matter how many we killed, even more took their place. And despite all the energy we put into taking out countless numbers of them, it didn't mean a thing unless the portal closed. I had managed to weaken myself after the amount of energy I had released, and I knew that I'd have to keep letting out more bursts of energy if we were going to make some kind of dent in anything.

"Zelda!" Steve cried; I had just let out another burst, and I was breathing heavily, my legs trembling. I could feel sweat trickling down my neck and my heart was beating painfully against my ribs. "You need to stop!"

"What're y-you talkin' about?" I rasped. "T-This is what you guys wanted."

"Look around you!" Steve motioned around us and I had to blink a couple times to see it clearly. All the debris around us had been thrown violently in all directions; Chitauri bodies littered the ground in giant heaps; the ground was so cracked and dented that it looked like it was about to give in at any moment. "One more burst and this whole spot will fall. You need to stop."

I swallowed thickly. Part of me was so happy that I was given the opportunity to stop, but another part of me was feeling a little anxious in doing so. But instead of arguing, I nodded weakly.

 _'Captain, the bank on 42nd past Madison,'_ Clint exclaimed. _'They caught a lot of civilians there.'_

Steve hesitated for a moment before answering. "I'm on it." He gave a worried glance my way. It was no secret that I looked and felt like absolute shit. I was barely standing on my own, and I knew that with Steve running off to help those people in the bank, that I'd be left the fight the Chitauri down here on my own.

Throwing a crooked, weak smile his way, I tried making myself sound reassuring. "Go, I'll be fine," I rasped. "I can handle it down here."

"You're sure?" he asked, worry lacing his voice.

"Captain, if I couldn't handle it, I'd let you know." Shuffling over, I picked up one of those Chitauri blasters and held it as firmly as I could in my hands. "Go. I'll still be here."

Nodding hesitantly, Steve fastened his shield and started running.

The moment he was gone, my smile faltered.

Adjusting the blaster in my arms, I started shooting away, trying to keep out of their line of fire. Unfortunately, because of how frequently I unleashed the energy, any kind of debris big enough for me to hide behind had been thrown in different directions, so I was left vulnerable in the open.

 _'How're you doing down there?'_ Steve asked after a moment.

Blasting down another Chitauri, I let out a strangled breath. "I've got it," I rasped. I jumped out of the way of narrowly getting blasted. "Trust me, I can handle it!"

I blasted a handful more before I started realizing that there were a lot more than I remembered.

 _OK,_ I thought, _I might not got this._

I tried shooting out some more from the blaster, but it hardly took down enough to even make a slight dent. Taking a few hesitant steps back, I swallowed thickly. They started charging, their blasters ready to fire. In that moment, I decided that—in the overpass's already delicate stage—I'd put out enough energy that could hopefully cause the overpass to collapse. If I could do that, then it'd stop them.

Lowering the barriers, I unleashed the energy and felt the ground start crumbling.

* * *

I felt myself jump awake when I felt a hand on my shoulder; there was a pain going through my body unlike any other. It honestly felt as if I were dying. Thor was standing over me, dirtied and bloodied and looking extremely out of breath, but his eyes were showing concern.

"How long was I out?" I rasped, slowly standing up, stumbling over the rubble.

Thor kept an arm wrapped around my waist, keeping me close to him. "As far as I can tell, not for long," he rumbled. I felt the air around us rush before I realized he'd flown us to the area near where the overpass had been. "From what I've been told, an explosive is being sent into the city."

"A bomb?" I looked up at Thor, feeling my blood run cold. "No. That's impossible."

"It's possible." I turned and saw Steve walk up, a frown on his face. "S.H.I.E.L.D is sending a nuke, that's what Stark said."

"What is he. . . .?" I stammered.

"He's sending it through the portal," Steve said grimly. We all turned toward the portal, and it seemed to be right on que because Tony was just flying in. The very second he entered the portal, tensions rose. After a minute and he didn't come out, an unsettling panic rested on us; when the Leviathans and Chitauri dropped their weapons and fell where they stood—and flew—but Tony still didn't come out, the panic still rose.

 _C'mon, Stark,_ I thought.

The minutes drew by in an agonizingly slow pace, but there was no sign that anything was going in or coming out of the portal.

A bright light started to steadily illuminate out of the portal, and we knew what that meant.

Looking down for a moment, Steve looked at Thor and I before looking back at the portal. "Close it," he sighed.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry for the wait! I got sidetracked by other things, hopefully you guys still like this chapter though! So the New York fight is coming to a close and the next chapters leading up until the story's conclusion will be fillers with everyone dealing with the aftermath of what happened. I will promise there shall be Thor/Zelda moments in those fillers, since there weren't very many in the story to begin with.**

 **Nothing in the 'Marvel' universe is mine. I just own my characters and the coffee I drink.**

 **If you've got suggestions for upcoming chapters—honestly, if you've got ideas for anything, it doesn't matter what—leave a review or PM me. I'm always ready to read what you've guys come up with. Ideas and suggestions are super important for stories! So if it's about Thor/Zelda moments, how they're all going to deal with the aftermath of New York, what they'll all do until Thor and Loki take off with the Tesseract, blah blah blah, let me know.**

 **Leave a kind and helpful review, please!**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	11. Chapter 11

**11**

* * *

 _Stop there and let me correct it,_

 _I wanna live a life from a new perspective,_

 _You come along because I love your face,_

 _And I'll admire your expensive taste and,_

 _Who cares divine intervention,_

 _I wanna be praised from a new perspective,_

 _But leaving now would be a good idea,_

 _So catch me up on getting out of here..._

 **~New Perspective; by Panic! at the Disco**

* * *

The beam of light that was keeping the portal open started flickering before it went out. The portal started closing. There was a heaviness weighing down on us—we were hoping Stark would've made it out; we _needed_ him to make it out.

Right as the portal was about to close for good, something fell out. A body.

I instantly moved out of Thor's arms and shot energy out in the direction of the body. It was Tony. And he was barely slowing down, despite the energy I was forcing out.

"It's Stark," I told them. I tried forcing out more energy, but with the way he was falling—the speed he was going at—I could only slow him down so much, especially with how badly I wore myself out during the fight. "He's not slowing down."

I saw Thor swinging Mjölnir, like he was going to fly up there and get Tony himself, but before he could do anything the Hulk jumped out and grabbed Tony, gripping him tightly before he slid down the side of a building. Pushing himself off, the Hulk crashed onto the ground just a couple feet from us before shoving Tony away and stumbling to his feet. We all ran over, Thor pushing Tony onto his back and ripping off the mask of the Iron Man suit.

Tony's eyes were closed. He wasn't moving and it certainly looked like he wasn't breathing.

I tried entering his mind, just to see if he was dead or not. I felt a flicker of his consciousness, which reassured me.

"He's still alive," I said. "I can still feel something. He's just. . . .not waking up."

We all just stood there for a moment, trying to figure something out. I tried seeing if I could tap further into Stark's mind to jolt him awake, but the Hulk let out a sharp roar, causing Tony to jump into consciousness and force me out of his head.

"What the Hell?" he rasped. "What just happened? Please tell me nobody kissed me."

We let out shaky laughs.

"We won," Steve said, out of breath.

"Alright," Tony sighed, sounding relieved. "Hey, alright! Let's just not come in tomorrow. Let's just take a day. Have you ever tried shawarma? There's a shawarma joint about two blocks from here. I don't know what it is, but I wanna try it."

"We're not finished yet," Thor said solemnly.

We all looked at him.

* * *

As it turned out, Loki was still at Stark Tower. We weren't really sure what to expect from him, and we knew we'd have to take every precaution necessary in case he chose to attack. So, while finding Clint on our way over, we trekked through debris, climbed up to where Loki was—where we'd also found Natasha, who had been with a newly-restored Selvig at the top of Stark Tower—and found the man behind the whole invasion battered and bloodied on the ground, struggling to get up. The inside of the room was destroyed, the ground cracked, looking like it was about to collapse in on itself, with broken glass littering the ground.

For a moment, Loki stopped what he was doing and turned, looking at all of us with an expression of brief confusion before the realization hit.

Whatever weapons we had we aimed at him.

"If it's all the same to you," he sighed, "I'll have that drink now."

* * *

It took a while, but S.H.I.E.L.D was at Stark Tower ready to take Loki in. And, thankfully, he knew when to admit defeat. He was handcuffed, muzzled even, and brought into the back of a Quinjet where he'd be locked up in a specified location—under constant surveillance, most likely—until New York had started to regain some normalcy, and a decision on what to do with the Scepter and Tesseract came into place.

As for us, Fury made sure to send medical personnel in separate Quinjets. He wanted us back on the Helicarrier for a briefing, so he wanted us patched up as quickly, and as thoroughly, as possible.

As for what we'd do _after_ the briefing, we had to decide that on our own.

Once we got into the Quinjets Fury provided for us, we were immediately given the best medical treatment that could be given until we reached the Helicarrier.

Thor, Clint, and I flew together in a Quinjet all the while getting assessed for our injuries. As far as I could tell, the areas where I'd been blasted by the Chitauri needed cleaning and stitching. The blood had since dried onto my clothes and hurt like a bitch to peel my shirt off.

"That looks bad," Clint said, grimacing a little as he regarded my injuries. His wounds were a few superficial cuts; he got a brief evaluation on his head, saying that he needed a special hit on the head to get out of Loki's control.

I tried for a smile. "It doesn't hurt too much," I said, giving a humorless chuckle. I saw a look in Thor's eyes as he watched me getting patched up—he looked terrified. "It'll be fine, Thor," I tried assuring him. "It's not like I could avoid getting injured."

"That doesn't mean I'll stop worrying," he murmured.

"You got stabbed, OK?" I arched a brow at him. A nurse was bandaging a stab wound he got on his side; he didn't seem too bothered by it. "I'm worried about you, too. I'm worried about everyone."

Once Thor had finished his assessment, he got up and sat next to me, gripping one of my hands in his. I didn't have to be a telepath to see the worry still obviously etched on his face. No amount of reassurance from me would stop him from worrying. Sighing, I laced my fingers through his, still aware of my side being stitched up.

The flight to the Helicarrier seemed to take longer than any of us wanted.

* * *

It was well into the night when we finally reached our destination. Fury took us one by one into a specially authorized room where we'd get briefed on not only what to do with ourselves during the aftermath of the invasion—Fury strongly suggested we all stay in New York for the time being, he didn't want us running off just yet—and he wanted us to tell him what went down. A good majority of the city had been destroyed by the Chitauri and Leviathans, as for how many people died, we didn't know.

We tried keeping the aliens within the perimeter Steve established, we'd told Fury, we did our best to make sure there were no strays. We also expected that a lot of people would view us with a lot of hostility, seeing as an entire city was not only nearly destroyed, but almost blown up.

After we finished with Fury, he told us by early morning, he'd have us flown to Stark Tower, where we'd be expected to stay until a decision was made with the Tesseract. Thor had made it clear he'd be taking the Tesseract and Loki back to Asgard with him, and Fury didn't argue with him on it, but he said there were still a few things that needed to be worked out.

"Try to stay out of the public eye for a little bit," he instructed. "Get better, figure out what you're going to do once this is all over. You'll know when we need you again."

S.H.I.E.L.D agents showed us to the barracks we'd be staying until morning, and once morning rolled around, Fury piled us into two Quinjets and flew us back to Stark Tower, reminding us to lie low and gather our strength.

Stark Tower hadn't been shown any mercy from the invasion, either. The outside was just as destroyed as the inside. Stark was disappointed that it had been _his_ building used as a battleground and as a means of opening an alien portal, but he kept up a façade of not giving a shit and showed us to our rooms for the time being. Fury hadn't told us how long it'd take for a decision to be made over everything that happened, so we figured we might as well get used to living with each other for a little bit.

* * *

I sat in a sort of living room with a big screen on. It was on the news. Footage of the invasion, sent in by survivors who thought it'd be cool to videotape the ordeal, were played over and over while news anchors blabbered on about the mysterious group of people—minus Captain America, whom everyone knew and idolized, and Tony Stark's Iron Man—who managed to stop New York's destruction. Yet, while some people who were interviewed were thankful their lives had been saved, a lot of people voiced how they thought our little rag-tag group was dangerous and should be under supervision.

 _"They're a menace,"_ a young man exclaimed. _"They did just as much damage here as the aliens did!"_

Footage went to a clip of the Hulk jumping from building to building, Thor bringing down lightning, Iron Man shooting his blasters at the Chitauri below, and then I saw a clip of me, debris violently shooting out at the Chitauri that had been around me, the ground cracked. Then a clip of when I destroyed the overpass to stop the Chitauri I had been fighting.

I turned off the television.

"Zelda." I turned and saw Thor standing at the entrance of the room I was in, wearing Earth clothes. His face was solemn.

"Were you standing there the whole time?" I sighed.

He nodded.

I nodded.

I hadn't seen much of the others for a good majority of the day—I could only assume they were off dealing with what was happening on their own. Stark Tower was big; it gave us all enough room to have some alone time.

Thor walked over and sat beside me on the couch. I rested my head on his shoulder.

"Are we dangerous?" I murmured.

Thor didn't say anything for a moment. "While a great many will think we're heroes, there will be some who don't see that," he sighed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "In a way, we did add onto some of the destruction."

I nodded. "Let's not talk about this," I sighed. I felt Thor kiss the top of my head. "I'd like to get to know you again." I lifted my head up and gave Thor an exhausted smile. "It's the first time we've had quality time together in a year."

Thor gave a small smile and nodded.

I adjusted myself so I was as comfortable as I could get without hurting my side. Thor's arm stayed around my shoulders, keeping me close to him. I let Thor talk first—he told me stories about Asgard. If I were to be completely honest with myself, I'd say that I wanted to see Asgard one day, but I knew that'd never happen. Thor spoke proudly of the beauty of his world—the buildings, the people, the culture. I looked up at him and saw a look of happiness written on his face as he spoke, but a glint of homesickness in his eyes. Then he spoke of his parents, Odin and Frigga. He spoke of how Frigga was always kind and warmhearted, then he spoke of how Odin could be cruel and ruthless at times. Especially toward Loki.

"Is that why you wanted to get through to Loki?" I asked. "You were afraid of what your father would do?"

"I see now of how Loki was treated by our father," Thor sighed. "Loki was unwanted in my father's eyes, insignificant. But Loki is my brother, and I was hoping I could. . . ." Thor broke off and sighed.

"I'm sorry."

Thor shook his head. "He'll be brought back to Asgard and receive justice for his actions. I pray our father is merciful."

"I think he'll be fine," I murmured.

Neither of us said anything for a minute.

"You fought bravely out there," Thor murmured, bringing me a little closer. I winced slightly. "You would make a brave warrior on Asgard."

I gave a slight chuckle. "I don't really like fighting," I said. I looked up at Thor. "That's more of your thing."

Thor chuckled.

"I really missed you," I said softly, "when you were gone."

"I know." Thor kissed the top of my head. "I had Heimdall tell me how you were every day." Gently tilting my face up, I saw the seriousness in Thor's eyes.

"Who's Heimdall?"

"He is the guardian of the Bifröst," Thor said. "He can see all."

"And you had him check on me?"

Thor nodded. "Every day."

I felt a feeling flutter inside me.

"If you don't believe me, look into my mind," he murmured.

"You know I don't like doing that." I smiled. "Besides, I believe you."

He sighed and nodded.

"Ya know," I said after a moment's silence, "if my brother were still around, he'd be so proud."

Thor's brows furrowed. "I remember you mentioning him."

"He was my big brother," I sighed. "Six years older than me. Damien was the first one I told when I found out I was a Mutant. He was the only one in my family who supported me."

"He sounds like an honorable man."

"He was." I felt my heart clench. "If you remember me mentioning him, then maybe you remember me saying he's dead." Thor nodded. "As much as I hate to say it, part of me blames Stark for it."

"Stark?" Thor's voice was laced in confusion.

"Stark used to be a weapons manufacturer," I said. "He sold all these different weapons to the Military—it was a big, successful company. But some of Stark's weapons were being sold—or stolen, I don't know—to some really hostile people in these other countries. It was Stark's weapons that killed my brother. There wasn't even a body to bring home." I felt tears well up in my eyes. "It's an empty coffin six feet under the ground. That's my brother's grave."

Thor held me close against him, being careful of my side. I buried my face in his chest.

In that moment, I felt another presence, for a brief moment, near the entrance of the room Thor and I were in. If I had known any better, I would've guessed it was Tony.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed this update, sorry for the long wait! I've got finals coming up and I am procrastinating so much it isn't even funny. It's actually very painful and I need to stop. I just wanted to finish this chapter first before I resumed my college responsibilities.**

 **I own nothing in the 'Marvel' universe. All I own are my characters and the stresses of adulthood.**

 **If you've got ideas on how the Avengers should deal with the aftermath of the New York invasion, let me know; if you've got ideas or suggestions on Thor/Zelda moments, let me know; if you've got ideas or suggestions on anything, let me know. I was thinking, since this will probably be a series of stories with the second Thor and second Avengers going to be added in, should I add in the third Captain America with Zelda written in? I know Thor won't be in it, but with Tony wanting everyone under some kind of government control, and pretty much all the Avengers minus Thor and Bruce will be in it, I was just wondering...**

 **I think it'd be interesting to write, but I'm also writing two different Captain America stories, so I don't entirely know. If you think I should add in 'Civil War' to the Zelda stories, let me know. This is only my second installment of Zelda, so...**

 **I'm blabbering, I'm sorry. If you get what I'm asking, just leave a review, OK? Thank you.**

 **Leave a kind and helpful review, please.**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	12. Chapter 12

**12**

* * *

 _Son of a bitch give me a drink,_

 _One more night,_

 _This can't be me,_

 _Son of a bitch,_

 _If I can't get clean,_

 _I'm gonna drink my life away..._

 **~S.O.B; by Nathaniel Rateliff and the Night Sweats**

* * *

After about an hour and a half of spending time with Thor, just having some little conversations to keep ourselves distracted, Clint came in and said that Steve had prepared some food for everyone. Leading us to the kitchen, we were all greeted with a meal that Steve managed to make, which looked pretty good. We were all grateful for that, and in a way it did bring us together to have some kind of social interaction since being brought back to New York.

"What happened to Selvig after the whole portal thing?" I asked, taking little nibbles of the food Steve gave me.

"He'd been sent to a hospital." Natasha threw a look my way. "He hit his head pretty hard. Not to mention the psychological damage that must've come from that."

Clint let out a humorless chuckle. "Yeah, having a god in your head isn't exactly _pleasant_ ," he muttered.

"How do you know Selvig?" Bruce asked, looking at me curiously.

"He's a close friend of mine." I tried for a smile. "Closest thing to family."

"Did he help with your powers?" Steve asked.

"No, he didn't." I put the plate of food beside me on the countertop. Unlike the others, who were either standing or sitting near the table at the center of the kitchen, I took the liberty of standing by the counter to have a little more space. "It was mostly me trying to figure out how to control it," I murmured. "Mutants aren't exactly widely accepted by most people."

"What about your brother?" Tony's question threw me off guard. I had a little suspicion that I'd caught him snooping around earlier, but I decided to brush it off, that it wouldn't be that big of a deal.

"Excuse me?" I said slowly.

"Your brother. Damien." Tony looked at me, his face serious—not a single trace of his usual arrogant, snarky attitude. "I overheard your little chat earlier and I did my own little research on him."

"You have no right to do that," I said, my voice lowering a little. "Who do you think you are?"

"Tony. . . .," Steve started, throwing a pointed look Tony's way.

"No, I feel this is important," he exclaimed, looking at Steve with an equally pointed look. "I'm going to take a guess that you had at least _some_ control over your powers before your brother's death."

"Stark, I swear to God if you don't stop right now. . . .," I seethed.

"Then bada-bing, he joins the Army." Tony's voice faltered for a moment, as if he were trying to find the right words for what he was going to say next. Only he didn't get to say anything else. He had a glass of half drank water beside him that exploded. I was trying to control myself, but the fact that he had gone out of his way to go and research my brother behind my back made me furious. I wanted to tell myself that maybe I was partly to blame for bringing him up, but Tony had no right to go and do a background check on him.

Everyone jumped or flinched slightly at the sound of the glass exploding and the water splattering on the floor and on Tony. I covered my face, taking deep breaths.

"Why would you think that's a good idea, Stark?" I muttered, trying to get better control over myself. "What are you trying to prove?" Removing my hands, I shot a glare his way.

"For one, to understand what triggers your powers." Tony gave me a look as he started cleaning the water and glass up. "From the looks of it, it's mostly emotion based."

"Now's not the time to be doing this, Stark," Steve scolded, taking a step forward. "We've all dealt with enough already. Don't you think this is a bit unnecessary?"

"I'm trying to better understand her," Tony exclaimed, pointing at me. "She's got enough power in her to destroy an entire city! She's got minimal control over it."

"Stark, that's enough," Thor growled.

Before he could dig himself a deeper grave, I threw out as much telekinetic energy I was willing to put out and froze Tony in his spot.

"You need to shut the Hell up, do you understand?" I said slowly, my voice low. "Steve's right. We've been through enough right now. My patience is starting to wear a little thin and you're lucky it was just a cup that broke. Whatever happens next will be out of my control, understood?"

Tony made some kind of sound, one I took as confirmation that he understood. Releasing him, I walked out.

* * *

I had taken to aimlessly walking through the various hallways of the floor we were on. After Tony's little outburst—his little rant that he was just trying to figure stuff out—I wasn't in the mood for anyone's company.

 **"Are you doing alright, Ms. Benningfield?"**

I jumped at the sound of the voice. It was a British man's voice and it sounded like it was in the room with me. Except I was alone.

"Uhm, who is this?" I stammered. When Tony first brought us back into the Tower, he hadn't mentioned anyone else being in the building.

 **"My apologies. I'm J.A.R.V.I.S; Mr. Stark's A.I."**

I sighed. _That makes sense._ "I'm fine, J.A.R.V.I.S, thank you."

There was a moment of silence, so I assumed maybe J.A.R.V.I.S powered down. **"Are you sure?"** he asked, slightly startling me. It was honestly surprising on how _Human_ he sounded. **"You seem rather distressed."**

"The stresses of life do that to a person," I said with a humorless chuckle. "But I'll be fine, OK? I appreciate your concern."

 **"If it makes all the difference to you, Ms. Benningfield, Captain Rogers is looking for you."**

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Is he now?" I murmured. I sighed. "Well, thank you for your concern, J.A.R.V.I.S."

 **"If there's anything you need, don't hesitate to ask,"** he stated politely.

"Thank you."

"Zelda?" I heard Steve called.

"I'm right here," I answered.

When I saw him turn a corner, he let out an almost relieved sigh when he saw me. "Are you OK?" he asked.

"Never better."

"Zelda."

"I'm fine, really," I said, trying for a smile.

"You didn't seem fine back there."

"Stark doesn't know how to keep his mouth shut," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'm starting to wonder if I'm going to be able to survive living here until S.H.I.E.L.D's come to a decision."

Steve let out an airy laugh. "We'll have to get used to it," he said calmly.

"It'll take a lot of getting used to."

"You're probably right on that one."

Neither of us said anything for a minute.

"I was wondering. . . .you and Thor. . . .are the two of you. . . .?" Steve flushed a little, as if the idea of bringing up such a question was embarrassing.

"Are Thor and I a couple?" I offered. Steve nodded a little. I shrugged. "We're something, I'm not entirely sure yet. I do have feelings for him, I'm just trying to sort them through." I gave Steve a curious look. "What brought up the question?"

"The way you two act when you're together," he murmured. "I was only assuming. . . ."

"Well your assumption would be correct. To an extent at least."

Steve nodded.

"You know, I think I saw a bar of some sort somewhere on this floor," I said, trying to change the topic. "I haven't had a drinking buddy in a while. Whaddya say?"

Steve laughed. "Just for the record, I can't get drunk."

"You can't or you won't?"

"I can't," he said. "Super Soldier."

"Well that's no fun," I said, pouting playfully. "And here I was, wondering what Captain America was like drunk."

"What are you like when you're drunk?"

"I've been known to be quite the chatterbox," I said, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'll probably spill my deepest darkest secrets."

Steve smiled. "That should be entertaining to see."

"Don't hold your breath, Rogers," I exclaimed. "You might get to see a slightly buzzed Zelda, but don't expect to see a fully drunk Zelda any time soon. J.A.R.V.I.S, do you think you could tell Steve and I where the nearest bar is on this floor?"

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey-yo! Sorry for the short, poorly-written chapter! I've been so busy these past couple days! I've had finals to study for, my sister graduated from college on Sunday, I've been bombarded with school work! I felt like I haven't slept in at least a month. Anywho, if you've got ideas for future updates, until the story's concluded, let me know, OK? I'm all for hearing what you guys have to say.**

 **Nothing in the 'Marvel' universe is mine. All I own are my characters and the bed I sleep in.**

 **Seriously, though. Tell me any ideas you've got. What should the next Thor/Zelda moment be about? Who should Zelda bond with next? Will she ever enjoy being around Tony? Should I incorporate her parents into the remaining chapters? Should I explain her Mutation on a deeper level?**

 **Let me know.**

 **Also, question. For the third Thor movie, I have been hearing rumors—correct me if I'm wrong—that Natalie Portman will not be returning as Jane; Cate Blanchett and Karl Urban have been casted to play some kind of major roll [I believe] in the movie; Bruce Banner is returning and there will be possible hints for Planet Hulk; a majority of the movie will be in some part of Space, aside from Asgard; and Thor will probably face some kind of terrible fate in the movie. Basically, rumors of him dying, then possibly being revived by the time Infinity War rolls in. So the question is: How can I possibly write the third installment of Thor, if, for one, it might solely be in Asgard or other parts of Space, and Zelda might not have any form of traveling between Earth and wherever else the plot demands?**

 **Please tell me what you guys think. I'm at a dead end right now, though I'll have plenty of time to worry about it later.**

 **I digress.**

 **Leave a kind and helpful review, please.**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	13. Chapter 13

**13**

* * *

 _Well I came along to find a little peace of mind,_

 _Neglecting all my duties,_

 _Steppin' off that straightened line,_

 _Now I just sit by my front door,_

 _Filled with indolence and sound,_

 _It's like I'm watching the weeds grow on my brow..._

 **~Weeds or Wildflowers; by Parsonsfield**

* * *

I was thankful for J.A.R.V.I.S for him leading Steve and I to the nearest bar, which I took the liberty to go in and ask Steve what he wanted. The semi shocked look on his face made me smile.

"I worked as a bartender for a bit," I said. "I needed a job, so. . . ."

Steve chuckled. "I wouldn't have taken you as a bartender type."

"Yeah, well. . . .," I laughed. "I'm sure I can throw together a drink. Just tell me what you want."

"What _can_ you make?"

"Well, if you must know, in my experience in bartending, I managed to fix up my own special drink that my old boss was rather fond of," I said playfully, getting all the necessary materials.

"What's it called?" Steve laughed.

"My old friend, Tawnie, who worked at the bar with me, called it _Wildflower_ ," I said, shrugging nonchalantly. "It stuck."

Steve gave a face of slight approval. "I wouldn't mind trying it."

I gave a smile. "Have you ever tried vodka?" I asked, a mischievous tone in my voice. "'Cause this drink requires a good amount of vodka."

Steve laughed.

* * *

It was an hour later when I realized that Steve had been right about his inability to get drunk. He'd probably had two drinks—mostly consisting of hardcore liquor—and he didn't even seem slightly buzzed. Me, on the other hand, I was nursing my second drink. I didn't want to get fall-on-my-ass drunk, but I was OK with dealing with a slight buzz. That and I didn't want to deal with a massive hangover in the morning.

"What were you like before?" I said, my words sort of slurring together. I took another small sip from my cup, looking at Steve carefully, hoping my semi drunk mind would focus long enough on what he was saying.

"Smaller," Steve said with a somewhat humorless chuckle. "Skinny, sick. All the serum did was make me bigger."

I hummed. "What do you think will happen to us?" I asked.

"What do you mean?"

"We just had an alien invasion less than a day or two ago, and we're acting like nothing happened," I said, taking another sip of my drink. "What're we gonna do now?"

"Live as normally as we can," Steve said.

I pouted slightly, trying to think it over. How could we live normally? After that, it didn't seem possible.

"I never really believed in aliens before all this," I sighed. "I was never really religious either, but we have a demigod living here at the moment and we fought his brother, which I just cannot explain."

"Thor and Loki might be powerful, but in my opinion, they're no god." The seriousness in Steve's tone slightly caught my attention.

"To each their own," I sighed, taking another sip of my drink. Putting the cup down, I rubbed my face and let out another sigh. I took a deep breath before I looked around. Stark Tower wasn't a completely bad place, maybe a little over the top, but it wasn't _bad_. But the moment we were all given permission to leave, how would I be able to handle being back in Philadelphia? Since people did send in videos of the invasion, would anyone in Philadelphia know I was there?

"You OK?" Steve asked.

Looking at him, I tried for a smile. "Yeah," I said, chuckling. "I'm just. . . .I don't know." I shook my head, pushing my drink away from me. "I forgot I could be a bit of a lightweight."

Steve's face twisted a little in concern.

"Really, I'm fine," I said, rubbing my forehead. " _Wildflower_ 's got a bit of a kick to it. It's better to stop after one, really."

"Probably a good thing I can't get drunk," he said jokingly.

I gave a small chuckle. "Yeah. Still, I wish I could've seen what you're like drunk."

"Do you have any plans for when this is over?"

I shrugged. "Probably go back home," I said, sounding a little uncertain. "I finally had my own job and apartment in Philly. It was normal, ya know?"

Steve nodded. "Sounds nice."

"What about you?" I asked. "You have anything special planned?"

"I'm working with S.H.I.E.L.D," he sighed, "so I'll stay here until they tell me otherwise."

I hummed in response. "Don't you ever get tired of it?" I murmured. "You can't be a soldier all the time."

An almost heartbroken smile came on Steve's face. "Being a soldier seems like the only thing I know," he said. "The guy I used to be was left behind when I went under."

"I feel like he's still there," I said. "You're just not giving him a chance to really come out."

* * *

After Steve and I went our separate ways—at least as far as we could go without unintentionally bumping into each other—I managed to find my room and go in there for a little bit. I decided that, since I drank one cup and a half of the drink I made, I'd sleep it off. Having only one cup of _Wildflower_ was enough to make a lightweight drunk by the time they're halfway finished; someone who could hold their liquor a little better might feel a slight buzz. In my case, I was somewhere in the middle of being a lightweight and someone who could sort of hold their booze.

So as I went to lay down on my bed, I jumped when I heard J.A.R.V.I.S' voice in my room.

 **"Ms. Benningfield, I apologize for the interruption, but you seem to have a call waiting for you,"** he said, sounding truly apologetic.

I scrunched my face up in slight confusion. "Who's calling _here_?" I grumbled. "Who even knows the number to this place?"

 **"It's a Mr. Raymond Benningfield and Mrs. Jacqueline Benningfield."**

The moment I heard those names, I felt my blood freeze over.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Hey-yo, everyone. Sorry for the delay, but here's the chapter! Let me know what you think. If I got any characters wrong, let me know and I'll change it to the best of my ability.**

 **I own nothing in the MCU. All I own are my characters and the music on my iPod.**

 **So, Zelda's parents somehow found the number to Stark Tower and are trying to contact their daughter. What do you think is going to happen? Are they going to try and reconcile with Zelda? Are they only trying to contact her because of the whole New York fiasco? How should Zelda react to her parents reaching out to her after the way they treated her? I was thinking of doing a possible flashback chapter that shows how Zelda's parents reacted when they found out she's a Mutant. Is that OK?**

 **I know I'm asking a lot of questions, but I think it's important to know what you guys think. The more you guys review, the easier it is to have this story keep going.**

 **[Last question]: Should I also put in a chapter that, told in the third person, shows how everyone is dealing with the aftermath of the invasion? It's been about Zelda for the most part. . . .I was just wondering. Let me know what you think.**

 **I know this story served as a sequel to my Thor story 'Counting Stars', but my next Thor story [for The Dark World] will serve as a 'Part 3' into the whole Zelda storyline. If that makes any sense.**

 **Since the story will be concluding soon—I'm not entirely sure when, but I'll let you know when it's close** **—I'll just post the title of the next story.** _Drops of Jupiter_ **will be the title of the next story.**

 **Leave a kind and helpful review, please.**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	14. Chapter 14

**14**

* * *

 _Yes I'm feeling a little bit nervous,_

 _Yes, I feel nervous and I cannot relax,_

 _How come they're out to get us?_

 _How come they're out when they don't know the facts?_

 **~Hurts Like Heaven; by Coldplay**

* * *

Raymond and Jacqueline Benningfield—those were the last names I ever wanted to hear. I hadn't heard a single word from them in years. It felt like a ton of weights had been dropped in my stomach—I felt nauseas and lightheaded.

"You're _sure_ it's really them, J.A.R.V.I.S?" I asked.

 **"Yes, Ms. Benningfield,"** he answered politely.

I swallowed thickly. Did I really want to talk to them? Not really. But if I declined the call, how many times would they try again until I answered? It didn't make any sense, why they decided to call out of the blue. _Was_ it because of the whole situation with New York? Were they calling with some ulterior motive?

"I guess you can put them through," I said. My nerves were so out of control with the thought of talking to them that I was starting to feel restless. I shifted on my bed, faintly feeling a sharp pain in my side as I did so. For what felt like a lifetime, no one said anything, so I assumed maybe they changed their minds and hung up.

 **"Zelda?"** Jacqueline's voice rang out. I swallowed thickly; she almost sounded concerned.

"I'm here," I said, trying to keep my voice even. I wasn't sure what to expect from them.

 **"We heard about what happened in New York,"** Jacqueline exclaimed, **"are you OK?"**

I felt a knot in my stomach. _She's asking if I'm OK? Is she OK?_ I thought anxiously.

"Why are you calling?" I asked, hoping my voice wasn't giving away what I was feeling. "How'd you even get this number?"

 **"Your father and I saw you on the news,"** Jacqueline said. **"You were fighting those alien things."**

"That isn't answering my question."

 **"Your father knows some people, Ellie."**

It was at that moment the anxiety in me bubbled over into anger. Ellie? That was a name I hadn't heard since before I found out I was a Mutant. Jacqueline called me that all the time, and it was a name I didn't really mind being called. I tried my hardest to keep my anger under control—if anything, things would start flying if I allowed myself to get too caught up in my anger.

I couldn't help it, though. I had been fifteen when I fully developed my powers and it was only six months later when Raymond and Jacqueline kicked me out. Damien took me in—he'd been twenty one at the time, so he let me live with him for a little bit, at least until he thought I was old enough to live on my own. Jacqueline had the audacity, eight years after _abandoning_ me, to call up out of nowhere and suddenly feel all motherly and loving.

"Are you kidding me right now?" I exclaimed. "Eight years, and only after a freaking _alien_ _invasion_ , and _now_ you're suddenly feeling all concerned for me?"

 **"Zelda, I know we made some mistakes. . . .,"** Jacqueline tried.

 **"Just listen to what we have to say,"** Raymond exclaimed.

"No," I barked. "I don't have to listen to _shit_." I felt the bed tremble slightly underneath me. The walls rattled and anything that wasn't pinned down in any way was either trembling or starting to violently jerk into the air. "The only time either of you _ever_ showed any love or concern for me was before I was a Mutant," I exclaimed. "Other than that, I was that little freak who lived with you! Damien took better care of me. Where were either of you when I was scared shitless at the thought of being homeless? Where were you when I couldn't gain proper control over my powers? Nowhere!"

 **"We were still worried for you."** Raymond's voice held a stubbornness that made the anger boil over in me. I tried controlling it, but the more they spoke, the angrier I got.

"If you were so worried, why did you kick me out?" I snapped. "Who kicks their out kid for something they can't control? What kind of parents are you?"

There was a moment of silence. I knew I caught them, they were taking too long to think of an answer. Taking a deep breath, I asked J.A.R.V.I.S if he could hang up, which he thankfully did before my parents could say anything else.

Taking a moment to calm myself down, anything that had been violently jerking in the air carefully went back to its original place. I pushed the anger down, trying to regain control over myself. A knock on my door distracted me.

"Who is it?" I called.

"Clint."

I sighed. Walking over, I opened my door and tried for a smile.

"There was some yelling," he said carefully, quickly inspecting my room. "Are you OK?"

Thinking it over, I nodded. "I think I'm better now," I said.

Nodding, Clint stood there for a moment longer. "If it makes you feel any better, Thor's been looking for you," he said, a hint of a smirk on his face. "Might wanna go before he tears this place apart looking for you."

I felt a blush rise on my face. "Whatever," I muttered.

Clint chuckled as he walked off.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry for the short chapter, but here it is! If you've got any ideas on any filler chapters, let me know! I'm all for hearing whatever ideas you've got. That's what helps this story progress.**

 **I own nothing in the MCU. All I own are my characters and the water I drink.**

 **Don't hesitate to give any ideas on the story before I wrap it up** **—which will probably be soon, but not too soon. If you've got ideas on how the group should be handling the aftermath of the invasion, let me know; if you think there should be more moments of bonding between the Avengers, let me know; if you've got your own ideas on certain things that go on, let me know! Don't hesitate to leave a review or PM me.**

 **Leave a kind and helpful review, please.**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


	15. Chapter 15

**15**

* * *

 _All my friends are heathens take it slow,_

 _Wait for them to ask you who you know,_

 _Please don't make any sudden moves,_

 _You don't know the half of the abuse..._

 **~Heathens; by Twenty One Pilots**

* * *

Thor found me before I found him. I'd been lazily walking through the halls of Stark Tower, mostly doing a little sightseeing. While I did want to find Thor, or anyone else who happened to be walking by, I was thankful I had that time to _really_ gather myself after what happened with my parents. I still had no idea why they'd call me out of the blue after so many years of silence between us. I could only assume that _maybe_ they saw me on the news when they'd aired the attack, and thought it'd be a good idea to call. But that still didn't excuse the fact that they somehow knew I was staying in Stark Tower and they managed to get the number.

Once Thor found me, though, I pushed down all those thoughts and plastered on my best smile.

"Clint said you've been looking for me," I exclaimed. "Is there something wrong?"

"I just wanted to check and make sure you were OK," he murmured.

I gave a light chuckle. "We were together earlier," I said. "I'm doing fine." There was a look on Thor's face that made me sigh. "Look, I'm still adjusting to everything that happened. Alien invasions aren't something I experience often. This is, like, the second time in the span of a year I've helped fight off some hostile alien."

"And your powers. . . .?" he murmured, one of his hands coming up to cradle the back of my head.

"I still have a lot of work to do." I felt a flutter of worry in the pit of my stomach. "My powers still scare me half to death, but I can't just brush it off and hope things get better." I paused for a moment. "Where's Tony?" I asked.

The look on Thor's face let me know he didn't entirely have an idea on Tony's whereabouts.

Chewing my bottom lip, I let out a soft sigh and allowed my mind to open up, my telepathy reaching out to every mind in the building until it found Tony's. I used that moment to kind of meld my telepathy enough into Tony's mind that I could see what he was seeing, actively trying to avoid any important memories. From what I could tell, he was in a garage. Quickly getting out, I blinked a few times, getting a bit of bleariness out of my eyes and fighting off a dull throb in the back of my head.

"He's in a garage," I sighed, rubbing my forehead anxiously.

"What's wrong?" Thor exclaimed.

"Maybe if Stark has some kind of training room, I can practice my powers a little." I looked at Thor solemnly. "If this is seriously going to be our lives now, I can't just sit back and do nothing about _this_."

I could see a look swirling in Thor's eyes; he was thinking over what I'd said. I felt it was important that I do something regarding my powers. After having them for so many years, I made little to no progress in certain aspects of it. My telepathy was better than my telekinesis, but it didn't feel good enough.

"If another invasion happens, I'm not going to be scared to use my powers," I exclaimed firmly. "I'm stuck with it for the rest of my life, whether I like it or not. But I'm not going to be holding back anymore and I _need_ the practice."

With a sigh, he nodded.

* * *

After asking J.A.R.V.I.S for the garage Tony was in, Thor and I made our trek down various hallways and different floors of the building. Tony had really built the place like a maze.

"Who gave you permission to be here?" Tony said when he saw Thor and I enter.

"J.A.R.V.I.S," I said.

A look swept across Tony's face at that. "C'mon, J.A.R.V.I.S," he muttered.

 **"My apologies, Mr. Stark,"** he replied, sounding genuinely apologetic. " **Ms. Benningfield needed to find you immediately."**

Rolling his eyes, Tony shook his head in slight disbelief.

"I'm not going to be bothering you for very long," I started.

"Good, 'cause I have something I'm working on." Tony's dismissive attitude made my blood boil a little, but I pushed it down just for that moment.

"Look, I just want to know if you have some kind of practice room," I exclaimed dryly.

"Practice room?" Tony looked at me as if I'd grown a second head.

"Yeah; practice room." I crossed my arms over my chest. "Maybe for some kind of training."

"Why would you think I'd have something like _that_?" he muttered.

"I don't know, to _train_." I threw my hands up in exasperation. "I don't care what you use it to train for, I just want to know if you have one or not."

Tony turned and looked at me.

"OK, since you're making this so difficult," I said, giving a sharp, humorless laugh, "I can't just sit here for God knows how long doing nothing. I have to do something to pass the time."

With a sigh, Tony turned and looked between Thor and I. I could see something reeling in that mind of his. Letting out another sigh, he stood up.

* * *

 **Author's Note:**

 **Sorry for the delay, but here's the chapter! I got sidetracked by responsibilities, that's why I didn't have this chapter up right away. Hopefully you guys like it, though. I know these fillers might not be the best, but there won't be a whole bunch; just enough to give a bit of understanding on how everything's going down since New York.**

 **Nothing in the MCU belongs to me. All I own are my characters and the stud for my nose piercing.**

 **If you've got ideas for future updates, don't hesitate to let me know.**

 **Leave a kind and helpful review, please.**

 **Thank you.**

 **Susan Strong**


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